


Life's A Beach

by edgy_fluffball



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aquariums, Beach Holidays, Beach House, Biker Grantaire, Body Image, Enjolras May Be Horny For The Bike, Eventual Enjolras/Grantaire, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Grantaire Struggles, Les Amis Go On Holiday, Les Misérables - Alternate Universe, M/M, Pining Grantaire, Sharing a Bed, a bit of angst, seaside shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 05:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20222548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgy_fluffball/pseuds/edgy_fluffball
Summary: Les Amis de l'ABC go on a well-earned vacation. Luckily, Enjolras' aunt leaves her beach house empty and they can inhabit it. Between sunbathing, children needing to be entertained and day trips, however, Grantaire has to deal with more than he signed up for."They were the first ones to arrive.Grantaire stopped and planted his feet on the ground, looking back over his shoulder to where the second motorcycle pulled around the corner and into the driveway. The driver flipped his visor up and he spotted a questioning look that drifted from him to the house, around the driveway and back to him.‘Is this right? You have the address, right?’ Grantaire flipped his own visor up and shrugged, ‘I didn’t listen when he told us. What’s the house’ name, anyway?’"





	Life's A Beach

**Author's Note:**

> So, this happened whilst I was supposed to be on holiday and I am actually relieved I finished it now. Time to get back to Nocturnal Acquaintances...

They were the first ones to arrive.

Grantaire stopped and planted his feet on the ground, looking back over his shoulder to where the second motorcycle pulled around the corner and into the driveway. The driver flipped his visor up and he spotted a questioning look that drifted from him to the house, around the driveway and back to him.

‘Is this right? You have the address, right?’ Grantaire flipped his own visor up and shrugged, ‘I didn’t listen when he told us. What’s the house’ name, anyway?’

‘_Driftwood Cottage_,’ Combeferre took his helmet off and put the motorcycle stand down, ‘seems like we found the right place.’

He pointed towards the whitewashed house in front of them. A knotty piece of wood bore its carved name in white. Grantaire swung his right left over the motorcycle and propped it up carefully. He stepped back and looked up the house front, taking in the wooden beam structure and balcony around the upper story. A public footpath led past the house and disappeared into steps that took it down the cliff the beach houses were built on.

‘Do we have a key?’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Combeferre pulled his gloves off, stretching his fingers, ‘last I heard, they were at least a few miles behind us. Courfeyrac is absolutely positive he is going to die; seems like Enjolras seems to have forgotten his driving lessons and will not cease yelling at other drivers. I don’t know why but it sounds like something angers him.’

Grantaire shrugged and pulled his helmet off, shaking his sweaty hair out underneath it. As soon as he took the first breath without the filter of his helmet in between, his nose seemed to tingle with the multitude of smells. Fresh sea air, dry reeds after a long, rainless summer and different flowery scents washed the street and dust out of his nose and lungs. He felt his eyes flutter shut and his shoulders relax after the long ride hunched over the motorcycle. He set the helmet down on the seat and put his gloves inside before turning back to Combeferre, running his fingers through his hair to loosen them furthermore.

‘A pity no one was here to see you do that,’ Combeferre grinned at him, eyes sparkling with joy, ‘you could have competed with models there. Someone might want to pay good money to see you take off that helmet.’

‘Shut up,’ Grantaire felt his face heat up, ‘I’ll check for the spare key. If Enjolras’ aunt is as old as he made it sound, she might have it under the door mat or under a stone.’

He walked around the yard and turned over a few decorative stones and garden figurines with his feet. A big, green ceramic frog watched him, Grantaire stuck his tongue out at it and picked it up. Combeferre rolled his eyes at him and pulled his phone out of his pocket, likely to try and reach Courfeyrac again. Grantaire climbed over the low garden fence once he had finished his sweeping of the driveway and followed the narrow stone path that wormed its way around the corners of the house and into the open garden behind it. A small gate led onto the stairs down the hill towards the beach but the cottage itself opened up into a beautiful veranda and garden with flowers, a fireplace and a huge cherry tree. Grantaire plucked a few off a low hanging branch and sucked the stones out of them.

He turned around in the middle of the garden and scanned the house. The balcony continued around the corner and got wider towards the centre. A glass front along the garden side brought light into the lower story that was built into the hill. Just as he began contemplating climbing through an opened window on the first floor, behind the balcony, he heard the distinct noise of Enjolras’ old but trusty car pull into the driveway, followed by the sound of a bigger car and Combeferre’s voice yelling a greeting that drifted around the corner and into the garden. He spat out the cherry stones in his mouth and returned to the front of the house again, ready to see his friends pour out of the cars, without doubt hot and sweaty after the long drive.

Next to his and Combeferre’s motorcycles stood a beat up van, a car Éponine had promised to borrow from her parents. She had brought all her siblings to the seashore house with her and her youngest brothers were already playing tag in the yard, running around between legs and bags, shouting at each other. Next to them, Azelma and Gavroche were busy on their phones whilst Éponine unloaded the boot with a little help of Marius and Cosette since they had brought most utensils for their beach holiday.

Behind the van stood Enjolras’ car. Its owner stood bent over the opened boot, handing out bags and supervising the caravan of people carrying things to the door. He had driven Courfeyrac and Jehan, if Grantaire remembered correctly. And yet, a figure stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the friends gathered, standing in the middle of the driveway, dressed in dark long skinny jeans, a black shirt, sunglasses and a black Fedora hat that obscured most of their face. Grantaire could not see his eyes behind the glasses but he seemed displeased already.

‘Why is Montparnasse here?’ Grantaire stopped next to Éponine and took a suitcase from her, swung a bag over his shoulder and leaned in for a brief hug at the same time, ‘I thought Enjolras only picked up Jehan and Courf.’

‘I think he counts as Jehan’s luggage,’ Éponine sighed and pulled a box labelled ‘swimming aids’ out of the van, ‘they insisted to bring him and I am not sure he got a choice. Is the house open, yet?’

Grantaire shook his head, ‘Not if Enjolras hasn’t unlocked it.’

Éponine stood to her full height, ‘Hey, pretty boy! Open the door already!’

‘I can’t,’ Enjolras turned around, ‘Grantaire has the key.’

Grantaire had different quips ready to throw at Enjolras but all of them seemed to have slipped his mind as he got the first proper look at his friend. Enjolras had forgone his usual hoodie-and-jeans-combination in favour of a loose tank top and swimming shorts. The sight of his collarbones and a hint of freckles on his shoulders had Grantaire gasp for air as he tried to look away again since a small voice in his subconscious insisted he was staring. Enjolras pulled the sunglasses out of his hair that had kept it out of his face and stretched out a hand.

‘May I?’

‘What?’

‘The frog, Grantaire, it has the key in it.’

He realised he still carried the ceramic frog, blushed and handed it over quickly, feeling Combeferre’s amused smile prickling in his neck. Courfeyrac was less successful at hiding his shit-eating grin and Gavroche had lowered his phone for a moment to moan about still having no wifi because Grantaire had chosen to be something he could not understand because the boy mumbled his words.

Enjolras retrieved the key from the frog’s belly and unlocked the door before replacing the figurine in its spot close to a batch of flowers and under a sweet smelling bush. He waved Grantaire over to the car and held some bags out for him to take.

‘I fear I will have to sort the kids first before we can do anything else,’ he smiled apologetically, ‘did you get here alright?’

Grantaire followed his gaze to the motorcycles parked in the shade of a tree on the driveway. A question seemed trapped in his eyes and he wanted him to ask, to be able to produce an answer. Enjolras cleared his throat.

‘When you said you’d come with Ferre, I thought –,‘ he interrupted himself with a slight shake of his head, ‘Sorry, stupid thought.’

‘What, you thought I was going to cling to his back for hours?’ Grantaire tried to hide the wide, triumphant grin that broke out on his face, ‘what exactly did you think I meant when I said I would have to give my baby a good wash?’

‘I don’t know, it could have meant anything, really,’ Enjolras blushed and pulled on the strap of a bag, ‘you never told me you have a motorcycle.’

‘I wear my bike gear at uni.’

‘That could be a fashion choice,’ Enjolras began to sound like he did during their meetings when he argued a point, ‘now, will you help me with this?’

Grantaire decided to let it rest and carry more bags into the house. He felt they had too many things for a beach holiday, the driveway had more in common with the Everest base camp. Enjolras grabbed something looking like a tent and marched towards the door. Grantaire was left to pick up as much as possible and follow him into the house. A pile of random things and bags had built in the middle of the open kitchen that led into the huge living room, towards the glass front. A soft, wide slope granted access from ground level to garden level easy enough to scale without steps and surely fully accessible by wheelchair. Grantaire could faintly remember Enjolras mentioning a hip replacement procedure. Other than that, the house seemed to be straight out of a catalogue for interior design. The sofa, curtains and tablecloth were colour coordinated, the glass doors on the cabinets matched the windows and the plants on the ground in front of the glass front stood in pots that seemed to be the same colour as the carpet. All in all, it looked exactly what Grantaire imagined an aunt of Enjolras to like.

Gavroche and Azelma had claimed to armchairs, still staring at their phones. A slip of paper, probably containing the wifi code, lay abandoned on the table between them.

‘Should we tackle the room distribution next so we can take all the stuff to the right places?’ Cosette appeared out of the bathroom drying her hands against her shorts, ‘and we are still not complete.’

‘Feuilly had a flat tire,’ Combeferre provided as an explanation, ‘he can sort it but they’ll be a few minutes.’

‘I told him not to take Bossuet,’ Courfeyrac sighed dramatically, sinking back onto the sofa, ‘his bad luck is spreading.’

‘You are lucky to talk,’ Marius grinned, ‘Enjolras’ car could fall apart at any moment.’

‘Shut up,’ Enjolras crossed his arms, ‘my car is fine.’

‘Of course it is,’ Jehan patted his shoulder, ‘how many rooms can we occupy?’

‘All of them. Aunt Clothilde is staying with my parents all summer and her kids aren’t interested in the beach house anyway. It should be six or seven rooms. Shall we tour the house?’

Grantaire set down the last bags and followed his friends up the slope, past the bathroom and the kitchen which Enjolras deemed self-explanatory. There was a lift that led up the stairs which Éponine immediately declared out of bounds for her siblings which prompted groans from all of them.

The first room, facing to the street, had a double bed and driftwood decorations around a floor length mirror. Jehan’s eyes began to gleam when they discovered they could see the lighthouse from the window, across the peninsula and above the neighbouring houses.

‘That’s our room,’ Montparnasse set down his shoulder bag down on the bed, ‘you won’t get them out of here now.’

‘Good,’ Enjolras nodded, ‘that’s one rooms claimed.’

The next two rooms had double beds, too. Since one of them overlooked Enjolras’ aunt’s roses, Cosette seemed enamoured with it and the other was decided upon to be left for either Bahorel and Feuilly or Joly and Bossuet. One of the other two remaining rooms with double beds that Enjolras showed them on the other side of the house were claimed by Courfeyrac and Combeferre, who spotted some kind of apparently interesting insect outside of the window whilst Courfeyrac already opened the balcony door to gush over the fresh air and the salty sea breeze he could smell.

‘That leaves the hidden cave,’ Enjolras pulled a trapdoor down from the ceiling, ‘Aunt Clothilde had this made into a playroom for her kids and now that they have children themselves, there are beds up there. I thought you guys might like it?’

He motioned for Gavroche and Azelma to lead the trek up the wooden ladder into the attic. Gavroche had merely peered above the floor when he yelled in excitement and disappeared. Azelma followed him and Gus and Louis had no choice but try and get up on their own.

‘What exactly is up there?’ Éponine half-turned to face Enjolras, eyes carefully trained on the hole in the ceiling that had swallowed her siblings.

‘Oh, my aunt had bunk beds installed. Bunk beds in the shape of boats, with rope ladders, monkey bars and loads of bean bags. There is one adult sized bed up there, if you want to stay with them over night. If not, there is a single bedroom next to the bathroom downstairs. I could then stay with the kids.’

‘You would do that?’ Éponine turned around completely and just looked at Enjolras for a moment before stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around him in a brief, awkward hug.

Enjolras beamed when she stepped back, ‘It’s okay, really. I’m sure the little rascals would love to hear all the stories of pirates and smugglers who roamed the sea around here.’

‘Oh you perfect human being,’ Éponine sighed in relief, ‘this is actually turning into a holiday.’

She hugged Cosette as well, for good matter who offered to bake and cook with the kids to occupy them. Grantaire coughed a ‘window painting’ in his cough at the same time as Jehan offered their skills as beach sports champion. Even Montparnasse seemed inclined to help out to entertain the lively kids who seemed to be fighting over the bunk beds above their heads.

‘We should separate them,’ Enjolras grinned.

‘Yeah,’ Éponine agreed with a lazy stretch of her arms, ‘we should.’

Their attempts of motivating themselves were interrupted by the door opening downstairs and a loud voice yelling, ‘Are you here or did the high tide wash you away?’

‘Upstairs, Bahorel,’ Courfeyrac screamed back, ‘bring your bags, we are assigning rooms.’

Steps came up the stairs, slow and dragging. Feuilly’s fiery head appeared first over the handrail, he had black smudges on his cheeks, neck and hands and seemed to be pushed upstairs by Bahorel who had a hand on his shoulder and steered him.

‘Which room’s free?’ he asked, voice strained.

Combeferre motioned towards the room next to Courfeyrac and his, ‘Has a nice view of the sea, too.’

‘I don’t care for the view,’ Feuilly marched straight past them and sank back onto the bed, ‘wake me for dinner.’

Bahorel shrugged, peering through the door, ‘The breakdown took him longer than expected, there were all sorts of complications and then we had the wrong map, too. Got him lost quite badly before Joly remembered we have phones.’

‘Baz,’ Grantaire began, biting back a laugh.

‘How good you found here, though,’ Enjolras brushed past them, ‘I’ll just explain the lift to Joly. He mustn’t overdo it on the first day, this is supposed to be a holiday.’

‘Can we use the lift to get out bags up here?’ Gavroche’s head appeared in the trapdoor, ‘Éponine, it’s really cool up here, I don’t think you should join us.’

‘Yeah sure, as if I want to,’ Éponine shrugged, ‘you are no longer my problem, Enjolras volunteered.’

‘Yes!’ Gavroche’s head disappeared again, they could hear him talk to the boys who seemed to respond just as enthusiastically.

The lift came up with Joly perched on it, his cane in his hand and a bag in his lap, ‘Hello there, everybody, did you arrive safely?’

‘All of us,’ Combeferre replied.

‘Even you and Grantaire? Still have all teeth and no one broke their neck taking turns?’

‘Nope,’ Grantaire watched as Joly climbed off the lift. They all knew his motions, could tell by the way he moved whether he wanted help or not; he had given them a long talk on the matter.

‘There is one more room,’ Jehan busied themselves showing Joly the way to the one next to theirs.

‘They are prattling,’ Montparnasse seemed to smile under his head, ‘full holiday mode.’

‘Are you alright with their choice of room?’ Combeferre asked, almost cautiously.

They had all had their inhibitions and not so hidden thoughts about Jehan’s choice of boyfriend. Montparnasse’s connections had rubbed them, Enjolras especially, the wrong way many times before and their friend’s decision had surprised them all. Most of them had not even known Jehan maintained any contact with Montparnasse before they introduced him as their partner. He had spent enough time in the back of the room at their meetings to be tolerated but it seemed like the bitter aftertaste his unaffected face left in their collective minds was something ever present.

Montparnasse shrugged and followed Jehan, ‘They chose the room. It’s perfect.’

Combeferre stared after him, blinking a few times before making a sound Grantaire could not decipher, ‘Okay, shall we get the bags?’

‘Looks like we should before we can enter the kitchen again,’ Éponine tilted her head back, ‘Hey, Gav, we are getting the bags, can you motivate yourself to help?’

‘Do you think we can get Enjolras’ stuff?’ Azelma’s curls covered half of the trapdoor as she slipped down the ladder, ‘Then he won’t have to do it.’

‘Good idea,’ Grantaire ruffled her hair, ‘I’ll help you.’

They climbed down the stairs, Grantaire tried to keep an eye on Louis and Gus who seemed to struggle with the open concept of the steps, almost too occupied with trying to look through his own legs into the kitchen. Once they reached the floor, the kids grabbed what they thought to be important, stuffed animals, books and a deliciously rustling plastic bag which Grantaire immediately confiscated and stored in the kitchen cupboard. He followed them back upstairs, carrying most of their backpacks and a suitcase that Azelma had pointed to.

The children allowed him to climb up the ladder, too and a minute later, Grantaire found himself standing beneath fluorescent stars on the ceiling, big windows with sea view and a maritime scene painted on the walls. He moved some of their bags around and inspected the bathroom adjacent to the attic where the maritime theme was continued. Enjolras had not made up a thing, there were monkey bars and rope ladders in the room, and bunk beds shaped like boats. After Grantaire had explained to Gus and Louis that they would be the fastest to save Enjolras if pirates entered the attic or the friendly-looking octopus on the wall came to life, they agreed to climb into the bottom bunks. A sharp look from him stopped Azelma from demanding she be the one to save Enjolras. According to Éponine, she had discovered fairy tales for herself and spent hours reimagining them with princesses saving the day and the prince.

‘Did we get Enjolras’ stuff, too?’ Grantaire looked around, ‘doesn’t look like it. Will you be okay whilst I get it? I promise I’ll take you to the beach before the night!’

‘Pinky promise?’ Gus blinked up at him, dark eyes hypnotising.

‘Sure, mate,’ Grantaire crouched down in front of him, ‘pinky promise.’

Gus wrapped his tiny arms around his neck for a moment and pressed a wet, loud kiss to his chin since that was all he could reach. Grantaire hid his painfully wide smile for a moment and asked Gavroche to keep an eye on the smaller boys. As he climbed back down the ladder, he closed the gate around the trapdoor.

His friends were still busy carrying bags and suitcases up and down the stairs, he grabbed Enjolras belongings and began to move them out of the living room. Enjolras, still occupied with Bossuet whose suitcase had sprung open next to the living room table, caught his eyes for a moment; Grantaire motioned to the cases and up the stairs for which he got a mouthed ‘Thank you’ and a smile. He then turned to gather Bossuet’s awful Hawaiian shirts that no one was allowed to laugh about because Joly loved them dearly. In doing so, he presented Grantaire with his shoulders, strong strands of muscles shifting under skin and the insufficient cover of his tank top, broad enough to feed the imagination and narrow enough not to seem ridiculous combined with Enjolras’ otherwise slim body and narrow waist.

He cleared his throat and turned his head to inspect the print of a coastline map hung on the wall underneath the staircase. A thought had entered his mind and it made looking forward to the next week or so incredibly hard, all of a sudden. Given the weather forecast, he thought, feeling the blood leave his head entirely as he stumbled towards the stairs, he would most possibly have to deal with the sight of a shirtless Enjolras at the beach.

His stomach relocated, plummeting to his knees. It seemed unlikely for him to survive the holiday and for the first time, it seemed like his demise would not come at the Thenardier kids’ hands. Somehow, he managed to get up the stairs and the ladder, drop off Enjolras’ bags and occupy the screaming hordes until Enjolras came up as well to ask him to take his car and Combeferre to go grocery shopping, handing him the keys.

Grantaire breathed, more than ready to escape for a moment. He found Combeferre watching fondly as Courfeyrac tried to decide which shorts to wear to the beach later, apparently, the choice was between rainbows and one with golden print stretching over his backside. Grantaire leaned in the frame for good three minutes, watching as Combeferre seemed torn between making a choice and ogling is boyfriend in shorts.

‘I like the gold,’ he grinned eventually, ‘come on, Ferre, Enjolras has asked us to buy food.’

‘We brought stuff,’ Courfeyrac complained.

‘Yes, sweets, crisps and vegetarian stuff,’ Grantaire crossed his arms over his chest, ‘we need fruit, drinks, vegetables and maybe more protein.’

‘And you have to take Ferre?’

‘It’s okay, Courf. I might just be the one person except Enjolras who knows where the shop is. I’ll be back in a few minutes,’ Combeferre kissed his boyfriend whilst Grantaire tried to look somewhere else, ‘anything you want from the shop?’

‘Condoms?’

‘Courf! You are not going to do it in a fucking beach house with all of us around and children asleep above you,’ Grantaire pulled a grimace, ‘and think about the singles, please! Singles and not-affected!’

‘That’s you, Baz and Feuilly,’ Courfeyrac sniffed, ‘and are you going to tell Montparnasse the same thing?’

‘Montparnasse didn’t speak about it in my presence,’ Grantaire shook his head, ‘you might think what you want but he has class.’

‘Thank you, Grantaire,’ Montparnasse appeared next to him as if he had been in the shadows behind him, ‘Jehan requests some elderflower syrup from the shop.’

Grantaire turned to face Courfeyrac triumphantly when he continued, ‘But if you’re bringing back condoms for Courfeyrac, we might have something as well. What’s that on your shorts?’

Courfeyrac turned around, beaming brightly, ‘_Be gay, do crimes_.’

Montparnasse nodded, ‘I approve.’

Combeferre got out of Courfeyrac’s grasp a moment later, stalked past them and only allowed himself to burst out laughing once they sat in Enjolras’ car, ‘Your face was hilarious, you were absolutely horrified!’

‘Yes, I get it, it’s fun to laugh at me,’ Grantaire buckled his seatbelt, ‘you really should make good on that promise to set me up with someone, I don’t want to be the one single friend anymore.’

‘Baz and Feuilly –‘

‘QPR, Ferre. They might not need more but that doesn’t mean that I could just occupy one wit hmy needs.’

‘You could ask Enjolras. He’d cuddle you.’

‘Yeah, that’s not going to happen,’ Grantaire turned to look out the window as Combeferre drove them along the cliff promenade and past more beach houses, ‘by the way, it’s an abomination to call that palace back there cottage!’

‘Well, Enjolras family is good at making a lot seem little,’ Combeferre agreed, ‘when I spent my summer holidays at his house I was taken aback every time anew.’

He pulled into the supermarket parking lot and handed Grantaire a slip of paper, ‘I made a list. If you think of something, just add it.’

They managed to get something resembling proper groceries together, despite Grantaire adding a few small water guns and Combeferre disappearing for a moment dangerously close to an aisle with contraception. Once they reached the drinks, both of them had pushed the cart long enough to feel it in their muscles. Grantaire got the elderflower syrup and lemonade he knew Jehan would need for their summer punch whilst Combeferre contemplated the best, safest alcoholic beverages. He seemed tempted to ask Grantaire for help but then again, his friends had been good at keeping him away from it all, after past escapades that had seen Grantaire stumble around old towns, fully intoxicated and inebriate.

He picked the soft drinks instead, fizzy drinks for the children and himself, a sugary mix of coke, lemonade, elderflower pressé and soda. Combeferre gave him a pleased smile when he added some sparkling water, too.

‘To water down the coke for Gavroche. He’d stay up to annoy all of us, otherwise,’ he pushed their cart forward, ‘and I didn’t sign up for child-wrangling after midnight.’

‘I don’t think any of us would voluntarily sign up for that. Not with the Thenardiers,’ Combeferre placed a few bags with snacks in the cart and went back to get a family sized packet of toilet paper, ‘I can’t believe Enjolras will spend his nights up there with them. Do you want to bet how long he lasts before he camps out on the sofa?’

Grantaire cleared his throat and pulled one corner of his mouth up into a half serious smile. It captured Combeferre’s attention for a moment but his friend shrugged it off and checked the shopping list one last time before nodding.

‘I think we are ready to pay.’

‘Split it the same way as always,’ Grantaire agreed, ‘same amount for everybody, reduced for Éponine.’

‘I would call us damned good friends, if it wasn’t a necessity and the natural thing to do,’ Combeferre took his wallet out, ‘she’ll never see the receipt.’

‘Never,’ Grantaire agreed and started piling groceries onto the conveyer belt, ‘and I think by now she won’t even ask. We have hidden enough of them from her.’

‘She would never accept it.’

They finished their shopping, stacked everything in the back of Enjolras’ car and drove back towards the beach house where most of the windows seemed to have been opened and cheery voices filled the air. Grantaire got out of the car first and opened the transport boxes mounted on his motorcycle. He had been limited by the space in the bags but all the things he had brought to the house still seemed too many. Combeferre handed him a few more things, stacking them in his arms under his chin, one folding box and the toilet paper which he balanced over his shoulder.

The kitchen was empty except for Bahorel who seemed to be making tea, bent over a few mugs on the counter. He looked up as they entered and let his shoulders sag. A disappointed line around his mouth appeared and he put a couple of tea bags down on the counter next to the row of mugs.

‘You’re back now? I didn’t make tea for you!’

‘No problem, Baz,’ Grantaire dropped the shopping bags on the counter and patted his shoulder before turning to the sofa to stack his own belongings in the corner next to it, ‘I’d prefer a lemonade, anyway. And someone has to take the kids down to the beach.’

‘Are you volunteering?’ Éponine appeared behind them and took a chocolate bar out of Combeferre’s hands, ‘Enjolras and you really are in peak form today. Is this going to be standard procedure for the holiday?’

Grantaire uttered a mirthless laughter and grabbed a chocolate bar for himself, ‘I wouldn’t presume to be on our beloved leader’s level of self-sacrifice. Also, I might change my mind sooner or later.’

He stood at the bottom of the stairs and whistled up the stairs, ‘I’m going down to the beach, anyone wanna join?’

Steps grew loud, voices sounded shrill from the attic and the ladder bounced on the floor. Gavroche was the first one to reach him, already changed into the trunks he had picked with Grantaire, a faded cap on his unruly hair and slathered in sunscreen, rather erratically, going by the white streaks on his back that left whole handbreadths bare.

‘You need a second layer. And get a towel,’ Grantaire tried to open his backpack to find his own swimming trunks.

Azelma helped her brothers down the stairs, dressed in a sparkly bathing suit that hung a little from her bony shoulders. She watched as Grantaire tried to wrangle Gus and Louis into their floaties, the boys were so excited about going to the beach for the first time, they constantly tried to escape through the back door and giggled excitedly as Éponine watched.

‘Why are you still in the black clothes,’ Louis asked after he had been put into his swimming trunks, he sat on a chair and dangled his feet, ‘are you cold?’

Grantaire laughed and grabbed a few things off the sofa, ‘No, I’m really warm, actually. Are you guys going to be good for a moment until I’m changed?’

Gus and Louis looked up at him with big eyes before nodding solemnly. Grantaire locked himself into the bathroom and hurriedly changed into his swimming trunks and a fresh t-shirt, toeing off boots and discarding his jacket, armour and jeans. He managed to get his sweaty hair out of his face and put on some flip-flops.

‘You are still wearing black,’ Louis stated when he came back, one arm around a beach ball.

‘True,’ Grantaire agreed, ‘but now it has short sleeves.’

Louis nodded and allowed him to take his hand for the short time it took them to climb down all the stairs on the hill towards the beach. He carried a rolled up towel and a water bottle that Éponine had held out for him. Gavroche had darted out the door without anything in his hands, leaving Grantaire to take everything else in a tote bag.

‘Grantaire?’ Louis stared at the next wooden step in front of them, stalking down one foot after the other, ‘why are your bags behind the sofa?’

Grantaire who waited next to him as he felt his way around before taking the step, cleared his throat and scrunched his nose up, ‘Uhm, because I just brought them in. I still have to take them away.’

‘But there is no beds.’

‘Louis, shall I carry you down to the beach? You’d have more time to play,’ Grantaire stopped for a moment, the boy looked up at him and blinked.

‘Okay,’ he stretched his arms up and waited for Grantaire to pick him up.

The second he got anywhere near his hair, he started picking at the sunglasses in his hair. They made their way down to the beach in little time and Louis demanded to be set down so he could feel the sand under his feet. He toddled off, towards his siblings who had already started to throw the beach ball in the spray.

‘Don’t run off too far,’ Grantaire yelled after them, ‘and come see me every now and then to drink a sip of water!’

He settled back with the towels and pushed his sunglasses down his nose until they covered his eyes. Gavroche’s voice was clearly audible along the beach and Azelma’s mane was clearly visible from where he sat and opened his book. The younger boys followed Gavroche anywhere, anyway and he had grown more responsible over the years.

‘Grantaire?’ Gus came up to him, pulling on his floaties.

‘Yes, mate? Oh, leave those alone, you need them in the water!’

‘I don’t like them, they are scratching my arms.’

‘I’m sorry, mate but you really need to wear them, in case a wave gets you.’

‘Gavroche doesn’t need them.’

‘Gavroche can swim.’

Gus’ lower lip began to wobble a little, ‘But I can’t swim.’

Grantaire did not want him to cry on the first day. He did not want him to cry at all and there was only one thing that popped into his mind in order to prevent a meltdown.

‘Would you like to learn? I could teach you.’

The wailing sound stopped coming out of Gus’ mouth. Instead, hope flickered in his eyes.

‘Really?’

Grantaire was not entirely sure what exactly he had gotten himself into but nodded, nonetheless. Gus latched onto his arm and dragged him towards the water, Grantaire only just dropped his book onto his towel and followed the boy.

As they reached the water, Gus slowed down a little, looking ahead warily. Grantaire waited for a moment, then he stepped into the water himself. It washed around his feet, cooling his skin and refreshing him immediately. He still held Gus’ hand, encouraging him to follow into the first waves licking at their legs. They stayed in the shallow water for a bit longer whilst Gus tried to overcome the inhibitions he might feel.

Grantaire waited for him to feel comfortable enough to follow him deeper in, clinging to his arm and taking slow step after slow step, ‘I am going to be next to you at all the time and will hold you as much as you want me to. You’re going to lie over my arms and I’m going to move you around whilst you do the motions. Okay?’

Gus nodded and Grantaire lifted him into his arms. He had reached a point where the seafloor dipped a little more and the water reached his hip, soaking the hem of his t-shirt. The boy was stiff as a board in his hands as he explained how to move his arms and legs to float on the tide.

‘Move your hands like a mole digging and your legs like a frog swimming,’ he said and moved Gus through the water.

The boy splashed around and treaded water for a bit whilst trying to master the moves. Grantaire praised him for every single one, making sure to hold him tight enough to keep his head over the surface. He did not want Gus to get salt water in his eyes.

‘I want, too,’ Louis yelled from where he ran away from the waves in the surf, ‘can I swim, too?’

‘Later, maybe,’ Grantaire answered, ‘how are you holding up, did you drink something recently?’

‘Yes, Courfeyrac gave me some.’

‘Courfeyrac?’ Grantaire turned around, Gus still in his arms.

He had not checked the beach in a few minutes, he thought when he spotted the figures sitting on the sand, where he had left their towels and beach utensils. At some point, his friends had made their way down and joined them. Grantaire spotted Courfeyrac’s sparkling backside where he had wrapped himself around Combeferre, who tried to read a book, Jehan was seated on Montparnasse’s lap and Cosette and Marius had wandered off a little on their own. He could not spot any more of them but before he could pay more attention to a bigger part of the beach, Gus demanded he move him around more and show him how to kick water properly, and Louis ran back to find someone in the shade.

‘I can’t move off the spot,’ he complained, ‘can you show me again?’

Grantaire nodded, ‘I’m going to let go off you for a moment and show you how to do it, okay?’

The sea was calm enough, no wave would hit him in the face when he let go off the boy. Gus bobbed up and down as Grantaire swam around him a few times, pointing out how he pulled his legs back before kicking out into the water. When he stood back upright, he was a good two metres away from Gus.

‘Do you wanna try to come over?’

Gus nodded and focussed on him, squinting in concentration. The floaties around his arms kept him up as he stretched his arms out and forward, and kicked his feet back, splashing water up behind him in a high fountain.

‘You’re doing great,’ Grantaire stretched his arms out in front of him and grinned as Gus made his way towards him, stroke for stroke, ‘look at that, you’re swimming!’

Gus beamed at him. He reached his hands and latched onto them, pulling himself closer to Grantaire who wrapped his arms around him.

‘Look at that, you swam all the way over here,’ he praised the boy and raised him out of the water, making him fly for a moment.

Gus squealed and laughed out loud, spreading his arms and screaming across the bay. For a moment, Grantaire was relieved there were no other residents or tourists around. The only people noticing were their friends on the shore, Bahorel and Jehan jumped up and cheered almost violently whilst someone seemed to put their hand over their eyes to see better. Grantaire bet it was Éponine. He allowed Gus to climb on his back and crawled back towards the shore, a giddy boy hanging from his throat.

‘Gus can swim now,’ he proclaimed the second they reached the beach, ‘we’re going to practise every day. By the time we go home, he’ll be a champion.’

He ruffled Gus’ hair and handed him over to Bahorel who lifted him up onto his shoulders and danced around in the sand. Grantaire took the towel Combeferre handed him and wrapped it around his shoulders before returning to the heap of their belongings.

‘You did something really good back there,’ Courfeyrac hugged him, not minding the wet t-shirt, ‘those kids better love you now.’

‘I do my best,’ Grantaire combed his hair out of his face, ‘where is everybody?’

‘Sun went so some returned to the house. Montparnasse didn’t come down here in the first place, Marius and Cosette are collecting shells, Joly and Bossuet are preparing dinner,’ Courfeyrac dug through the beach bags, ‘here, hoodie, put it on. We need to get Gus dried as well, he’ll run off, otherwise.’

‘I’ll leave that to Baz and Éponine,’ Grantaire shuddered as a gust of wind blew under his towel, ‘they should do it fast. I’m heading up, I should shower.’

‘Do it. Go and be free, I’ll get Ferre to help me tidy up. Check on the food on your way,’ Courfeyrac grinned and patted his shoulder, ‘we’ll get the kids and be up in a few.’

Grantaire gathered his things and climbed up the stairs back to the beach house where he got a few more things from his bags and stepped into the shower in the downstairs bathroom. He washed the salt water away from his skin and hair, dried off and changed into fresh, dry clothes.

The kitchen was busy and smelled off all things nice, Joly was busy mixing spices and Bossuet stirred in a pan that omitted the wonderfully promising scent of marinated chicken and stir fry. Montparnasse sat in the living room on a chair and scrolled through his phone, barely looking up when Grantaire entered to drop off his things. He did follow him with his eyes around the room and coughed at one point. Grantaire turned around and squinted at him.

‘You alright there?’ Grantaire shot him a look.

‘Your friends are idiots. Even my darling partner,’ he dropped his phone in his lap, ‘they did not question where you would sleep. Enjolras might have been excited to show around his house but he missed the one thing that was not going to add up. I joined, you’re missing a bed.’

‘Thanks, Parnasse,’ Grantaire filled a water glass for himself, ‘I’m fine though. I’ll sleep on the couch, it’s a pull-out, after all. ‘

‘Your sacrifice will not be in vain. Jehan’s going to have a teary fit of emotion when they find out.’

‘Don’t tell anyone,’ Grantaire furrowed his brows, ‘I’m okay with it as it is, Bahorel snores, Jehan is cuddly, no one wants to get in between Courf and Ferre –‘

‘And you wouldn’t last a night next to Enjolras,’ Montparnasse grinned, tipping his hat back, ‘you are so obvious. It’s painful to watch you sometimes.’

‘You don’t see me that often,’ Grantaire rolled his eyes, ‘my point is, I don’t want a huge discussion over who sleeps where and people trying to change it up again. I’m fine with the sofa and there is nothing else to be said about it.’

Montparnasse shrugged and picked his phone back up, ‘You’re still obvious.’

***

Their first full day in the beach house began with Grantaire’s alarm at five. He had been the last one of them to go to bed, pulling out the sofa after everybody had left the bathrooms and retired to their respective rooms, and wanted to put everything back as it had been before anyone woke up. With the sofa stored and his bags hidden, he changed into his swimming trunks and a t-shirt, refilled his water bottle and pulled his towel off the line in the garden. He went down to the beach, reaching it when the first rays of sun glimpsed around the cliff and tinted the sand rose. The waves rolled into the bay and licked into the soft pattern the low tide had left in the sand. Grantaire dropped his bottle and towel off at a secluded spot and ran into the cold spray. He kept running until he was waist deep in and lunged himself into the water, waves crashing together over his head. A few, strong strokes got him further out in the bay, cold water began to feel warm and his legs burned pleasantly. Every breath, every move made him feel more and more comfortable in his skin. He revelled in the feeling and pushed himself farther.

He swam past the first buoy, tapping it in a cheerful moment, giggling to himself as he swam out until the beach and the cliff were a mere hint and the rising sun a glimmer above it. There was a seagull bobbing up and down on a wave close to him, cawing at him indignantly when he swam too close. He turned back and crawled back until he reached the buoy, tapping it again to bring his morning swim full circle. A single seagull took off and accompanied him the last yards, screeching loudly.

Grantaire let the water slide off his shoulders, it dripped out of his trunks and t-shirt, ran down his spine and made him shiver fast. He pulled the t-shirt off and wrapped himself in his towel before emptying his water bottle in one go.

He held the towel close to his chest when he returned to the house to shower and get dressed. By the time he was done, the kids were up and running around in the living room. Enjolras stood in the kitchen and brewed coffee.

‘Good morning,’ Grantaire greeted him with a cheer but his friend just grunted and poured more coffee into an oversized mug in front of him.

‘I take it you don’t need any of this,’ Enjolras looked up for a moment, still wrapped in a fleece blanket and with a pillow imprint on his cheek.

Grantaire felt like his heart was close to exploding. He settled for a careful pat on the shoulder and squeezed past Enjolras to get himself a glass of orange juice.

‘How did you sleep?’

‘Not too bad once Gavroche switched off the torch and put down his book,’ Enjolras sipped his coffee and leaned back against the counter, ‘this morning, Azelma decided to livestream something on Instagram and she squealed until everybody was awake. You?’

‘Went for swim,’ Grantaire emptied the orange juice, ‘the sea is calm.’

‘You went out already? Did you check the tides?’

‘Sort of,’ Grantaire grinned, ‘sometimes it’s just too annoying.’

He could see how Enjolras’ brain caught up with what he had been saying. His eyes widened, he gasped for air and reached out for Grantaire.

‘You went out without checking? That’s dangerous, you could have gotten into trouble and no one would have known or seen you struggle!’

‘Are you worrying about me?’ Grantaire grabbed a piece of toast and took a bite out of it, ‘How sweet.’

‘You are just too reckless. Do you drive the same way you swim?’

‘Maybe,’ Grantaire shrugged.

Enjolras shook his head, ‘Remind me to never ever get on a bike with you.’

Grantaire choked on his toast. His friend seemed not to notice but he refilled his water glass and took a hasty gulp to wash the dry bread down his throat. The thought of Enjolras even close to his bike made his heart trip.

‘When can we go to the beach?’ Azelma interrupted them, ‘I want to wear my other bathing suit. The green one.’

‘I wanna build a sandcastle,’ Louis chimed in, ‘and Gus needs to help.’

Grantaire looked around the room. He could hear his friends begin to rummage about upstairs and Cosette singing in the shower. It would not take long for them all to come downstairs and start their day on the beach. The sun had risen enough to flood into the living room, painting the walls and furniture gold.

‘I don’t think we’ll be doing anything but be at the beach today,’ Enjolras shrugged and set out a few mugs for everybody else coming up, ‘naps and beach. A few of us really need to just relax for a day.’

Gavroche seemed to accept that, at least for some time until everybody had had breakfast and, in Montparnasse and Courfeyrac’s case, lots of coffee. Their trek to the beach took them a few minutes, despite the close proximity. Everybody carried at least one bag and the kids had grabbed a few toys they wanted to take.

They found a place in the shade of the cliff where they set up, Cosette and Éponine shed their t-shirts and shorts to lie in the sun in bikinis and Jehan juggled with three different bottles of sunscreen. At one point Montparnasse threw them another one and they continued, unfazed. Combeferre grabbed one out of the air to put it on Courfeyrac, the kids and himself before passing it on to Joly, Bossuet and Enjolras.

‘I don’t care what colour your skin is,’ he snapped, ‘you’re still using sunscreen, Bossuet!’

Joly, their resident health inspector, made sure everybody applied enough sunscreen and waited for a few minutes before running into the sea. The kids rolled their eyes at him but complied, to everybody’s surprise and amazement.

Grantaire settled back and decided to just watch as his friends made a run for it and disappeared in the spray. He had brought his book back to the beach and lay on a towel next to the cooler, with full access to the drinks and snacks. He tipped his sunglasses down his nose and pulled his cap on to protect his face. His book was captivating enough to take him far away from the beach and his friends.

Somewhere, the story got him to a point where he could no longer keep his eyes open. The nap seemed to be inevitable.

He woke up because someone giggled in his ears. There was something cool and heavy on his feet, his book seemed nowhere near his body and when he blinked his eyes open, his sunglasses were no longer on his face.

‘Gavroche?’ he mumbled and tried to cover his eyes, ‘I better not be covered in sand now.’

Gus and Louis giggled. Grantaire braced himself and sat up. His legs were completely covered in sand, he could no longer see anything from the knees down and the sand did not move as he tried to wriggle his toes.

‘Well done, guys,’ Montparnasse supplied, his voice just off bugged, ‘you dug Grantaire a hole to disappear in.’

‘Did you even move?’ Grantaire propped himself up on his elbows.

Montparnasse shrugged and lifted his phone back up in front of his face. He still wore his long, black combo, hat and sunglasses and seemed generally out of place on the beach, surrounded by children in colourful swimming costumes. It was like seeing a clown at a funeral.

Grantaire let the children continue but remained in a semi-propped up position, watching them. He encouraged Louis to take a spade and fill a little bucket to build the sandcastle he had dreamed about, held Azelma’s cap when she wanted to get her hair a little wet and played along when Gavroche pretended to have trapped him in an inescapable position.

‘Did you have any plans for later?’ Marius came out of the water and asked Grantaire with a grin, motioning to where his legs disappeared in the sand, ‘doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere any time soon.’

‘We should all take a nap and lie back for a moment,’ Jehan sat down on the towel next to Montparnasse, tucking themselves into his side, ‘we’re all coming out of the water, before we burn completely.’

‘There must be some sandwiches somewhere in one of those coolers,’ Grantaire waved vaguely in the direction of their food, ‘and hopefully, the kids left –‘

The word got stuck in his throat. He had wanted to drag Gavroche for probably drinking most of the soft drinks they had brought to the beach, maybe add in a quip and make them laugh but then his attention was diverted and his brain lost its function.

Enjolras came out of the water and shook his hair to get rid of the drops clinging to it. His swimming trunks were in an ungodly red, bright against his rather pale skin, despite a slight tan spreading over his shoulders. Or maybe it was a mixture of sunburn and freckles, Grantaire could not tell. His hair shone in the sunlight, curling on his skin in wet, messy waves and water dripped off him into the spray.

‘– dripping wet,’ Grantaire squawked out, his voice stuck somewhere between terrified and delighted.

Jehan snorted and hid their face in Montparnasse’s shoulder. Their boyfriend seemed horrified, staring at Grantaire before kicking him in the ribs.

‘Ouch! Mate, what’s wrong with you?’

‘What’s wrong with you, you’re lusting after Enjolras like a high-schooler watching beachwear commercials to get off,’ Montparnasse adjusted his hat, ‘it’s embarrassing. Stop it! You make me feel pathetic.’

Grantaire tried to get out of the sand quickly to sit up properly and present himself in a pose that he hoped looked normal. He could hear Montparnasse and Jehan giggle, Courfeyrac whistled and Bossuet hollered at him. Enjolras seemed not to have heard or seen anything that had been going on, he raised his eyebrows, grabbed his towel and shot him a questioning look.

‘Are you okay, Grantaire?’

‘Yeah, all swell,’ he grimaced, having realised what he said, ‘sorry, I’m alright.’

‘Grantaire was just marvelling at your chiselled features and broad, muscular chest, thinking about how he could just, uh, lie on it, use it as a pillow whilst you run your wonderfully slender, delicate fingers through his hair; just scratching his scalp in all the right places and oh, mh – hey, what the fuck, mate!’

Courfeyrac stopped the fake moaning and pushed himself up, kicking up sand as he ran from Grantaire who hurled himself at him with a roar. He chased Courfeyrac along the beach and into the spray, trying to get him to stumble into the water. He succeeded, eventually, and Courfeyrac sputtered out profanities that Grantaire could not tell apart from the colourful expressions they made up around the kids.

Grantaire turned around triumphantly and raised his arms over his head. Joly clapped when he came back to drop back down onto his towel and Combeferre sighed something about having to calm down Courfeyrac who followed Grantaire, dripping wet and with sand on his back. To him, he looked nothing like Enjolras stepping out of the water.

‘Come on, Grantaire, you must be boiling,’ Cosette pointed at his t-shirt, ‘aren’t you hot?’

‘Smokin’,’ Grantaire grinned but did not move to take his t-shirt off, ‘nah, I’m fine. Anyone have any sandwiches left?’

Enjolras passed him a box with their lunch, ‘Just take care and don’t overheat.’

Grantaire accepted the sandwiches but the disappointed undertone did not escape him. He ate what was left of their lunch packets in relative silence, his friends seemed set to take another nap after finishing their meals, too. It was not too long before Gavroche grew antsy and began to threaten the sandcastle his brothers had built. He dug a gorge into the sand that slowly grew into a ravine, crumbling one of the castle’s towers.

‘Right,’ Grantaire got up and brushed the sand off his trunks, ‘I’m taking you guys mini golfing. Pack a few things so that we don’t have to carry it all up later.’

‘Are you sure?’ Éponine lifted her hat to look at him, ‘they are going to run you mad.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘Don’t you wanna swim some more?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Do you need the car?’

‘It’s fine,’ Grantaire threw his towel and some toys into a bag to carry up the cliff, ‘we’ll be back in time for dinner.’

The children followed him up the stairs, dropped what they had deemed important enough at the house and left the house again through the front door. They walked along the promenade and passed the ice cream parlour where Grantaire found himself being pressured into agreeing to buy them ice cream later.

The mini golf site was mostly in the shade of tall trees and artificial rocks. Grantaire borrowed clubs and balls and settled under one of the trees from where he could watch the kids. Gavroche and Louis teamed up against Gus and Azelma and set off across the pitch. He could hear them at any point during the course, Gus’ laughter and Gavroche’s indignant squeals. It was a soundtrack worthy of the summer it was, cheerful, loud and warm. He enjoyed the sun prickle on his skin, warm his scalp and slowly burn his face. He had accepted that sunscreen did not work for him, it merely prolonged the process of being burned to a shade that rivalled a cooked lobster fresh out of the pot. The kids, still dressed in their swim clothes, would end up complementing prawns to his lobster stew.

By the time the kids had passed the course and screamed about who really should have won, kicking each other and pulling hair, in Louis’ case, Grantaire felt obliged to intervene. He grabbed Gavroche and Louis, pulled them apart and motioned for Azelma to return the mini golf clubs. She kicked a pebble, complaining that Gavroche had cheated, ‘as always, you never say anything about him being a cheater!’

‘I’m taking you home for dinner, there is no point in you tearing him apart, believe me,’ Grantaire sighed, ‘Gavroche, if I see you cheat or tease anybody, there will be no ice cream for you.’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ Gavroche shrugged, ‘honestly, I don’t know what she’s going on about!’

‘Sure,’ they made their way back down the street, ‘so, ice cream for everybody; if Gavroche as much as moves one muscle in a funny way, I’m eating his.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ Gavroche gasped, tugging on his sleeve, ‘tell me you you wouldn’t do that!’

‘He totally would,’ Gus grinned, ‘Grantaire is a cool adult.’

‘I’m not sure there is such a thing,’ Azelma raised an eye brow, ‘but if there was it would be him, I suppose.’

‘Thank you,’ Grantaire dragged them to the ice cream parlour and got his wallet out, ‘two scoops each, no back stabbing and making each other trip over.’

The kids ordered their ice creams and Grantaire paid up, trying not to think about his bank account after all the bribery he had to undertake to make the holiday a success for everybody. Gavroche calmed down a little and trotted alongside him until he had finished his ice cream cone.

‘I did cheat,’ he said quietly, ‘whenever Azelma didn’t look.’

‘I know,’ Grantaire sighed, ‘I know you guys, forgot that already? I know you like to make situations better for yourself but I also know that your sister has eyes in the back of her head. And so do you, don’t you?’

Gavroche nodded and leaned into him. Gus and Louis saw their brother half hug Grantaire and demanded similar treatment. He lifted Gus onto his shoulders, sat Louis down on his hip and put an arm around him, and the other arm around Gavroche. Azelma held his hand, forcing her fingers into his. Stacked together like this, they returned to _Driftwood Cottage_. The smell of garlic bread wafted out of the kitchen and prompted the children to forget the ice cream they had eaten and Grantaire to set them down quickly to avoid heels in his side.

He settled in the garden for a moment, waving to Jehan and Montparnasse who lay in the double hammock between two fruit trees. The lawn chair on the veranda seemed the best option for him, he stretched out on it and closed his eyes, just for a moment, he told himself.

Enjolras woke him up with a glass of tea and a soft information about dinner being ready. Grantaire blinked at him for a moment and tried to get his brain to comply. He saw the face in front of him, the kind smile that seemed empathetic, in a way that suggested Enjolras had imagined taking the kids to the golf course himself.

‘It’s nice and quiet now, we gave the kids early dinner and put on a film. Do you want to come in or continue being mosquito dinner?’ Enjolras grinned, ‘come inside, we’re having a little sit together, in the living room. Courfeyrac made zucchini salad and Cosette toasted garlic bread. It’s really good, she allowed me to taste it, actually.’

Grantaire pushed himself up, off the lawn chair and followed Enjolras into the house, carefully closing the patio door. His friends sat on the sofa and around the coffee table, different plates and drinks in front of them. The couples seemed already cosied up together, leaving single spaces in between them. Éponine, Enjolras and Grantaire sat down wherever there was space. He was tempted to squeeze in between Bahorel and Feuilly but they seemed occupied with each other’s hair.

‘There he is, the child wrangler,’ Combeferre nodded and toasted him with his bottle, ‘welcome back to the gang. The adults welcome you.’

‘Totally adult,’ Courfeyrac nuzzled his boyfriend’s throat, almost like a cat pushing into a hand to be petted.

Combeferre indulged him and kissed him briefly, just a peck but Courfeyrac pulled back with a wide grin and slid halfway down the sofa. If he had not known better, Grantaire would have been tempted to assume he was flustered. Of course, Courfeyrac did not get flustered, they knew that.

Grantaire settled on the sofa and pulled a plate closer. He dug in, not paying attention to the people around him. Given that most of them were occupied with each other, he could finish most of his food without being interrupted. He finished his food around the same time as Enjolras. They exchanged a look over the table, smiled at each other and set down their plates.

The sound of the movie the kids listened to faded away upstairs, a few minutes later, Gus and Louis appeared at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in their pyjamas and with stuffed animals in their arms. Louis had one of his thumbs I his mouth and sucked on it, Gus fumbled with the bow his teddy wore around his neck.

‘Can I have a cuddle?’ Louis climbed onto the sofa next to Grantaire and into his lap, ‘don’t want to sleep yet.’

He saw Gus climb up Enjolras’ legs as well and wrapped an arm around Louis who rested his head against his shoulder and sucked at his thumb. Grantaire ran his fingers through his soft hair, drawing patterns on his scalp.

‘He’s going to fall asleep on your lap,’ Éponine warned and emptied her drink in one gulp, ‘and I’m not carrying him up the stairs. Is Gavroche on the phone?’

She turned to Gus who nodded against Enjolras’ shoulder. Éponine sighed and pushed herself up. She pulled Cosette up with her, out of Marius’ arms who stared after them with the expression of a dog who had his toy taken away.

‘She tells the better bedtime stories,’ he sighed, ‘I suppose that’s the price for Azelma and Gavroche to go to sleep.’

Grantaire snorted quietly and continued to rock Louis whilst his friends debated about what to do the coming days. According to Joly, Feuilly and Courfeyrac there was only a limited choice of possibilities. A low tide walk to an island castle, open air theatre and a seal sanctuary were named and put up for debate and was backed by different parts of their group.

Louis raised his head and pulled his thumb out of his mouth, ‘I want to see Sally.’

‘Sally?’ Jehan leaned forward, ‘who is Sally, darling?’

‘Sally the Seal,’ Grantaire answered, ‘it’s a book I gave him for his last birthday.’

‘It’s my favourite book,’ Louis whispered and replaced his head on his shoulder, ‘I wanna see Sally.’

Gus rolled his eyes, ‘There is no Sally, it’s a picture book. Stop being a baby.’

Grantaire felt Louis’ jaw tremble as he began to cry into his t-shirt, hot tears soaked his shoulder and he whimpered quietly, ‘Good job, Auguste Thenardier, he’s crying! Anything you want to add, whilst you’re at it?’

Gus began, too, for good measure, ‘I just… I wanna… I wanna see Sally, too.’

Grantaire groaned and leaned in to ruffle his hair, ‘It’s okay, Gus. Just, don’t lay into your brother like that. You want to see Sally? We might just go and the two of you can go around together? Do you wanna see the seals together with Louis?’

Gus nodded and stretched his arms out. Louis sniffled into his stuffed toy and watched his brother for a moment before hugging him and pressing a wet kiss to his cheek.

‘Aww,’ Jehan cooed and patted their heads, ‘we have to go to the sanctuary now, Joly. There is no way we can disappoint them after all this.’

‘I feel blackmailed,’ Joly rolled his eyes a little, ‘seal sanctuary it is. Do we know how to get there?’

‘We have the cars,’ Combeferre grinned, ‘although Courfeyrac voiced interest in riding with me on the bike. It’s not too far, anyway.’

‘Clinging to his knight in leather,’ Grantaire got up and patted Louis on the back, ‘come on, big boy, let’s get you to bed.’

Enjolras followed him with Gus, humming a little lullaby to the boy. They climbed up the stairs first, passing Éponine and Cosette on the landing who came back downstairs. Both smiled as they squeezed past them, Éponine pressing quick kisses to her brothers’ cheeks.

‘Good night, sleep tight,’ she whispered into Louis’ ear, ‘tomorrow will come soon.’

Louis and Gus rubbed their eyes by the time they had gotten them up the ladder into the attic. Azelma and Gavroche were already in their beds, blankets haphazardly pulled over themselves, leaving their legs mostly free. They whispered amongst themselves whilst Grantaire and Enjolras put the younger ones to bed.

‘Okay, try to sleep now,’ Enjolras tucked Gus in, ‘we have wonderful plans for tomorrow.’

‘We’re going to see Sally,’ Louis mumbled into his pillow before drifting off.

Grantaire waited for Enjolras by the trapdoor. He had a little more trouble to get Gus to settle into bed and was almost down to bribe him when Grantaire intervened and told Gus not to toe the line too much. The boy blinked up at him and wormed under his blanket.

‘Good night, Gus,’ Grantaire rolled his eyes at Enjolras, ‘come on, we can leave them now. We’ll hear if they don’t sleep.’

Enjolras looked back into the attic with a small smile, ‘They got us to agree to the seal sanctuary, didn’t they? Well, it’s a charitable organisation, I suppose. Last time I went there, I was about ten.’

‘Did you like it?’

‘I was about ten years old.’

‘That means you did,’ Grantaire grinned, ‘ten year olds like seals.’

Enjolras rolled his eyes but it came with another smile that Grantaire was tempted to claim as his own. He looked back over to where Louis had curled in on himself, one arm slung atop his blanket, his stuffed toy still in his hand.

‘Those kids are going to be so tanned when we drive home,’ he chuckled to himself, ‘nothing compared to the burn I would sport if I swam all day.’

‘Why don’t you swim?’ Enjolras stood on the landing and looked up at him.

‘Because water washes off sunscreen, I would burn to a crisp. My skin hates me, after all.’

‘You must be really hot, though, honestly,’ genuine concern ghosted over his face, creasing his forehead, ‘the water does cool you down perfectly.’

‘I saw the effects it had on you,’ the words slipped past his lips before he could stop them, ‘exiting the sea like some beachwear model.’

Enjolras winced and ran his fingers through his hair, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what it looked like. Did it embarrass you?’

Grantaire stared at him for a moment. Enjolras had turned away from him to walk down the stairs and he found himself follow the lines of some strands of hair curling around his shoulders, marvelling at the effect Enjolras’ words had had on him. He had clearly objectified him, comments about models and beachwear were eternally destined to enrage Enjolras and yet, he had apologised to him. Grantaire swallowed hard around a lump in his throat. The moments of Enjoras’ surprising actions were the hardest for him to get through. Usually, he was able to mask his crush with statements that he could count on in regards to Enjolras reacting sourly to them. It was when his friend reacted out of the ordinary that he felt himself unfairly tested.

Their friends had decided on a movie to watch, Enjolras slipped onto the couch next to Combeferre and Courfeyrac and immediately cuddled up with Courfeyrac who wrapped an arm around him. Grantaire stood in the middle of the room for a moment before Feuilly grabbed his wrist and pulled him in between him and Bahorel. He rested his head against Feuilly’s shoulder, only half motivated because he could see both the TV and Enjolras that way.

‘Seal sanctuary,’ Marius sighed, ‘what are we to expect?’

‘It’s not just that, actually,’ Enjolras mumbled out of Courfeyrac’s embrace, ‘it’s a whole aquarium. The sanctuary just makes the most money and is the most charitable outset.’

All that was visible of him was his hair that stuck out of the cross of Courfeyrac’s arms. He listed a few species that would be of interest for the children and finished by bringing up driving arrangements again. Grantaire allowed his eyes to slip shut after having mentioned his motorcycle again. They would not need his participation in the following discussion.

Apparently, Jehan had other plans, they nudged him with a foot and demanded he share his cuddliness. Grantaire obliged, changing positions on the sofa. Bahorel and Feuilly used their newfound freedom to retire, closely followed by Cosette and Marius who both seemed to have caught a mild sunstroke after their walk along the cliff.

One after the other, the living room emptied until Jehan yawned and pulled out of Grantaire’s arms, ‘Parnasse, we’re going to bed.’

Grantaire rubbed his eyes and looked up. The only other person in the room was Enjolras who watched him.

‘Don’t you want to go to bed, too,’ he suggested, ‘I’ll tidy up here and then go as well.’

‘No, it’s okay,’ Enjolras smiled, ‘I should do it.’

Grantaire cleared his throat, trying to come up with an excuse as to why he was not leaving. It hurt him only minimally that no one but Montparnasse seemed to have realised that he slept on the sofa but he had chosen it himself and could not hold anybody else responsible.

‘Honestly, Enjolras, you need every second you can get, sleeping up there with the kids. I’m fine down here, I promise!’

Enjolras left a couple of minutes later and not before he had finished stacking the dishwasher. He stopped in the doorway for a moment and looked back to Grantaire but he waved him off with a grin.

***

His combined his run along the shore with the swim in the cold morning sea, which woke him up despite the limited sleep he had had. A few seagulls followed him out again as he crawled through the waves. Salt water clung to his hair, made it sticky and rough but he could not care less as he climbed out the water later than the day before, the sun stood higher up and his arms burned more than the day before. He took his time climbing the stairs up to the house, one step after the other, his head blissfully empty. It was as if the cool sea water had washed away any thought trapped inside his mind and left nothing but a pleasant cottony feeling. It lasted until he opened the patio door to see Louis riding on Enjolras’ shoulders, fighting off Gavroche on the ground whilst Gus and Azelma seemed to pour too much sugar into their cups of hot chocolate.

‘Grantaire,’ Enjolras gasped, ‘help me!’

Grantaire stood rooted to the spot for a moment, watching helplessly as Enjolras tried to keep Louis upright, Gavroche’s fingers away from his ribs and an eye on the two children in the kitchen, his hair was hanging into his eyes and he shook his head to get them out of the way – all in all, the very picture of a fantasy Grantaire was not comfortable even thinking about. He jumped to his side, stretching his hands out for Louis to climb onto his shoulder.

‘If I may?’ Louis slipped into his arms and cupped his face, ‘what were you up to, there, huh? Annoying Enjolras into making you breakfast?’

‘We almost succeeded,’ Gavroche crossed his arms, ‘and then you had to come back. Where were you, anyway?’

‘Just out. For a walk,’ Grantaire set Louis down to take the sugar away from Azelma and Gus, ‘it was beautiful and I got to see the sunrise.’

‘Your hair is wet,’ Louis scrunched up his nose, ‘it was cold when I touched it.’

Grantaire chuckled, ‘I might have slipped and fallen into the sea.’

Something changed in Enjolras’ expression, Grantaire caught it as he poured milk into a mug for Louis. The children asked him something and it might have been about allowing them to watch TV, Grantaire just nodded and turned away. He could hear the jingle of a kids’ programme play in the living room.

‘Grantaire?’ Enjolras stood in the doorway to the kitchen, blocking his way out, ‘what happened to you?’

‘What do you mean,’ Grantaire tried to laugh Enjolras’ stern face away, ‘I went down to the beach.’

‘Yes, I got that much. But what did you do there?’

‘Again, Enjolras, what do you mean? You don’t make any sense.’

‘Listen, Grantaire, I want you to be honest with me. We can get you help, if you relapsed, we’d all understand, but don’t scare me like this.’

‘What?’

Enjolras ran his hands through his hair, a pained look in his eyes that made Grantaire regret ever asking back, ‘Grantaire, you left the house in the middle of the night, before anybody else woke up. You did so yesterday, too. I get it, this is a stressful situation for you. Please know that I will always be here to help you, if you need me. You don’t have to sneak out to drink. I mean, it’s your decision of course but if you fall into the sea and drown –‘

‘Enjolras,’ Grantaire interrupted the rant directed at him, raising one hand and he was close to actually touching his shoulder, hair, face, anything to reassure him, ‘I did not get drunk. I didn’t even sneak out in the middle of the night. Do you remember what Bahorel said would help me battle the urge to drink?’

‘Exercise?’ Enjolras looked at him, the clear look of someone missing a piece, ‘Didn’t he say you should do sports?’

Grantaire smiled, sad and tiny, ‘I went out for a run along the beach. There was no drinking, no drowning, I just went for another swim afterwards but if the kids knew I do this, they’d probably ask to join me and I enjoy these early moments all by myself. Believe me, Enjolras, I have not relapsed. You were too thorough in your therapy in the first place.’

He saw that Enjolras believed him, it was clear to see in his eyes, the relief too overwhelming and genuine for it to be anything else. Grantaire cleared his throat, getting his friend’s attention back.

‘Thank you, though.’

‘What for?’

‘You were worried for me. I suppose that means you care about me at least a tiny bit.’

‘Of course I care about you,’ Enjolras stepped out of the doorway and towards him, closer than they had been before, ‘you are –‘

He seemed to search for a word to describe just how he felt about Grantaire but nothing left his lips. The suspense pressed onto them, made them lean in as if the word had been spoken too quietly to be heard. A hand had risen between them and Enjolras’ eyes flicked between it and Grantaire’s face, as if he was not entirely sure what to do with it, now that is was in its place. Grantaire held his breath. He felt a drop of water fall out of his hair and roll down his spine. It left the skin prickling, longing for more and battling with the urge to itch and scratch his back at the same time.

‘Anyway,’ Enjolras smiled at him, ‘are you excited for the seal sanctuary today?’

‘Yes,’ Grantaire stuttered, ‘I love seals. Do you know if they do public feedings?’

‘They do,’ Enjolras beamed at him, ‘I used to sit and watch for hours whenever we went. My parents could go through the whole aquarium and come back to the seals and I’d still be there. I loved watching them glide through the water.’

Grantaire felt a warm shudder run down his back where the water drop had slipped down before. Enjolras' forlorn smile hit him in the stomach and pushed aside any feeling of hunger he had felt after his morning swim, his inside seemed to spontaneously perform a loop before dropping suddenly. It left him breathless for a moment and Enjolras seemed even closer when he opened his eyes, breathing the same air, looking at him out of deep, blue eyes that shared both depth and colour with the sea he could see in the distance, beyond his friend’s shoulders, the living room, patio door and garden.

‘Come on, you’re awake this early and there’s no coffee, breakfast, anything? What have you been up to?’ Éponine came out of the small single bedroom she occupied, tying her hair up as she walked towards them, ‘and where are my brothers?’

She saw them before she reached the kitchen, turning to join them in the living room which allowed Enjolras and Grantaire some time to sort themselves out. Enjolras dove for the fridge and began to get their breakfast essentials, enough to feed a Roman army, whilst Grantaire busied himself with the coffee machine. Brewing eleven cups of coffee with varying milk and sugar additions would occupy him long enough for more people to arrive in the kitchen and break up whatever had been in the air after their talk.

His cheeks burned with a mixture of embarrassment that Enjolras believed he could have relapsed and the undefined feeling knowing Enjolras cared about him had left him with. It weighed him down and put a spring in his step at the same time as he laid the table on the patio.

He went back inside when he could hear Combeferre and Jehan bicker about driving motorcycles and the effect it had on boyfriends and partners. Grantaire watched as Jehan insisted knowing ones partner in constant danger would not add to the flair, whilst Courfeyrac argued he felt perfectly safe tucked behind Combeferre.

‘Doesn’t Montparnasse have a motorcycle?’ he grabbed the croissants from Enjolras, ‘and you were incredibly excited when you told us, Jehan, dearest.’

Their cheeks turned pink. Grantaire considered it a job well done and joined Courfeyrac who tried to open the parasol on the patio. The children followed them a minute later, chattering and giggling, occupied with thoughts and plans for the day.

‘I need my own Sally,’ Louis demanded, ‘and I want to feed one.’

‘They don’t let babies do that,’ Gavroche yelled, ‘and Éponine won’t let you, anyway!’

‘We’ll just have to sneak off,’ Azelma whispered too loudly, ‘we can hide in a dark corner and go back when we have seen the seals already.’

‘Did you hear,’ Courfeyrac grinned at Grantaire, ‘your part-time job as child wrangler is getting really wild today.’

‘Who says I’ll be anywhere but the seal tank, huh?’

‘The way you’d follow Enjolras into the dark,’ Courfeyrac shrugged, ‘you’ll be with him, don’t worry. At some point, he’ll realise that you are the perfect man for him. You are going to be the most balanced couple out of the whole group.’

‘I detest that statement,’ Grantaire waved Feuilly and Bahorel to join them outside, ’breakfast is ready.’

They had a rather brief breakfast together since the children got antsy and jumped off their chairs every few minutes which led to the rest of the group to lose their cool as well, beginning with Courfeyrac. The driving arrangements were discussed again to make sure Enjolras knew he would have to go first since he knew the way.

The drive went along the cliff and seashore, one idyllic scene following the other. Grantaire saw the landscape dip and rise softly through the tinted visor of his helmet. Combeferre and he tried to stay together behind Enjolras and in front of Feuilly’s beaten car. Whenever they stopped at a crossing or traffic light, he could see Courfeyrac’s face through the visor, head pressed against his boyfriend’s back and smile radiant enough to shine beyond the helmet. Combeferre had Grantaire just how much Courfeyrac liked riding on his bike with him, filled with pride and something else that Grantaire had not been able to pinpoint. Enjolras had rolled down the windows of his car, every now and then he held a hand out to motion in the direction they needed to go before he indicated, to give them a moment to prepare. Jehan held their head out a few times, looking back at them like an overgrown Labrador.

When they reached the aquarium, they jumped out of the car, water bottled in their hands, ‘Enjolras insisted. He didn’t want you to dehydrate before we enter the place with all the water.’

‘Again, Jehan, it’s salt water,’ Enjolras called from his car, ‘just hand them the bottles!’

Grantaire took his helmet off and shook his sweaty hair out that already threatened to stick to his skin. He saw Combeferre and Courfeyrac shed their leathers as well, Courfeyrac looked ridiculously small in Combeferre’s leather jacket, anyway. He unzipped his own, letting a sea breeze blow away the sweat and air out his t-shirt underneath.

‘Enjolras, what’s the matter with you?’ Something dropped to the ground behind him and Enjolras scrambled to pick up the lunchbox they had packed whilst Montparnasse rolled his eyes at him, ‘just pick your jaw off the ground already!’

Combeferre whispered something into Courfeyrac’s ear that made him giggle so hard he snorted some of the water he had sipped from the bottle. Something about their innocent smiled made Grantaire wary of what they had talked about.

Feuilly got them the tickets. He seemed excited enough to dig a hole just by tapping his foot on the ground. Bahorel wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him, apparently tight enough to calm him down enough to actually enter the aquarium without combusting entirely into a puddle of still vibrating goo.

They made their way to the seal sanctuary to find a spot to meet up again later. Already, their groub broke in smaller parts that voiced interest in different things and parts of the aquarium.

‘Can we let the kids run off on their own?’

Éponine glared at Joly who raised his arms in defence, ‘No, we cannot do that. Not, if we don’t want to end up finding turtle babies in their pockets tonight.’

‘That’s a good idea, Ép,’ Gavroche chimed in and grinned like the cat that got the cream, prompting several cries of ‘No,’ around their group, ‘okay, no turtles.’

‘Does anyone want to hang around the kids,’ Éponine asked, a hopeful in her eyes, ‘I offer to take on dishwashing duties in exchange.’

‘Why not,’ Combeferre shrugged, ‘I’ll look after them. It’ll be like being around another Courf.’

Courfeyrac looked like he wanted to protest but Louis threw himself at him and hugged him, screaming about seals, having to buy a seal and wanting Courfeyrac to lift him up so that he could watch the seals. Courfeyrac sighed and lifted him into his arms, resigning and bowing to his destiny as babysitter.

‘Well, see you here for lunch before the seal feeding,’ Enjolras clapped as he did after their meetings, ‘have fun around the premises.’

Grantaire watched as Courfeyrac and Combeferre were pulled along by four children. The rest of the group disbanded a little slower, but in different directions, nonetheless. He saw Feuilly and Bahorel follow the arrows on the ground suggesting a tour, Jehan and Montparnasse disappear around a darker corner – he wanted to bet someone they would end up making out in front of the shark basin – and Marius and Cosette quietly debating the cleverest way to walk around and see everything. Bossuet and Joly grabbed Éponine who only smiled back at him with an apology somewhere between the giddy joy and excitement in her eyes. He breathed in deeply, catching the soft breeze from the sea, full of salt that made his skin sticky.

‘Grantaire?’ Enjolras stood next to him when he opened his eyes, ‘would you mind if I joined you on your tour?’

‘I believe we are the last ones left,’ Grantaire smiled at him, ‘where would you like to start?’

‘The seals?’ Enjolras returned the smile and stepped to the side, making room for Grantaire to take the lead and decide for them.

The seals lay in the sun, basking in the warmth with lazy fin waves to get rid of insects. Grantaire and Enjolras stood close to the glass on the inside of the terrain, watching the seals on land and the ones in the deep basin, swimming and rolling in the small waves of the surface. Neither said a word, both too entranced by the slow movements that furthered the swimming animal.

‘They are beautiful,’ Grantaire whispered without knowing why he did not dare raise his voice.

Enjolras lifted his head to nod and point out a smaller animal, a young seal that tried to get a bigger one to join it in the water, ‘Like Gus when he wants someone to join in. Or Louis when he ends up in the gift shop, later today.’

They spent another ten minutes watching the lazy flicks of fins before moving on with the promise to come back later for the feeding. There was a small corridor that got them to the next enclosure where they looked at the turtles and, across the basin, Joly, Bossuet and Éponine.

In the coral reef tunnel that led through the basin whilst fish swam around above, underneath and next to them in colourful swarms, they almost tripped over Marius and Cosette who lay on the ground, hands entangled, eyes directed upwards into the blue water. Enjolras and Grantaire joined them for a moment, lying down next to them. Cosette took Grantaire’s hand and raised it towards the glass ceiling.

‘Can you see all the coral fish? There’s one with a blue stripe down the side, I called him Bahorel. Remember when he had that black eye?’

‘And there’s Courf,’ Marius explained, pointing out a sparkling purple fish, ‘I think he looks just like him.’

‘He sure is a sight to behold,’ Enjolras agreed, ‘have you found fish for everybody?’

Cosette nodded, a smile brightening her face, ‘There you are, see the red one up there by all the bigger ones? He has yellow lines down the side and when we came here he kind of swam in between the bigger fish and a few smaller ones that seemed to have found food or something else.’

‘Wow, that’s nice,’ Enjolras looked back up, ‘where’s Grantaire, then?’

‘It was easy to find him once we had you,’ Marius blinked a few times, ‘there’s a dark green one that doesn’t seem to stray far behind yours, Enjolras. I think he believes he’s a bodyguard.’

‘It has something off a pufferfish,’ Cosette added, ‘a very cute one, Grantaire.’

‘Thank you, Cosette,’ Grantaire felt his cheeks warm again.

Heated voices came closer and Enjolras winced, ‘That’s Gavroche. Will you mind it terribly, if we run along? I’ll have the pleasure with their evening moods again, later.’

‘Go,’ Cosette shooed them away, ‘see you around!’

Enjolras and Grantaire ran along the tunnel, ducking around the corner the moment Gavroche and Gus entered the tunnel from the other side. Pressed to the side of the corridor, Grantaire heard how they began to tell Cosette and Marius about the fish and animals they had seen so far, trying to impress them by screaming louder than the other.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Enjolras whispered, hair wild around his face and eyes ablaze, ‘we should go somewhere they already went to, make a game of hide and seek out of it. Did you hear them mention something in particular?’

‘Sharks,’ Grantaire breathed, ‘they went to see the sharks.’

Enjolras grabbed his hand and pulled him along the corridor, down another and another until they stood in a dark room with the only light coming from close to the basin where dark shadows gracefully slid along the thick glass. Grantaire came to a halt next to him, feeling his hand pulse warm and welcomed in Enjolras’. They stood still, not quite sure what to do with the new setting. Grantaire tried to decipher one of the signs, to maybe even learn something whilst at the aquarium but Enjolras seemed to have different plans. The grip around his fingers tightened and then he was dragged off again, deeper into the shadows behind the basin.

When they stopped again, they stood in a corner without light, a doorway out of the room and a decorative treasure chest made bench. Enjolras sat down, effectively pulling Grantaire along and stared ahead, into the water of the shark tank.

‘Enjolras –‘

‘Grantaire –‘

Both fell silent. Grantaire imagined Enjolras wanting to say something, maybe more encouraging words about the journey he had been on. Maybe, he thought, Enjolras would tell him he had done something stupidly dumb that needed fixing, his friends tended to do that. Or maybe, a smile ghosted over his lips, maybe Enjolras wanted to borrow his bike for a spin.

‘Grantaire,’ Enjolras began again, turning to face him, his eyes pleading for something Grantaire could not pinpoint. He looked at him in a way that made Grantaire shudder and wonder what he would say next.

Enjolras licked his lips, tried to speak again but as before, no word escaped his lips. Their hands lay between them on the bench, fingers still intertwined the way Cosette and Marius’ hands had been earlier. Grantaire looked down at them and a soft sound slipped past his carefully closed lips. Enjolras thumb had moved over the back of his hand, rubbing little circles into it, just like Enjolras did on his own hand or thigh whenever he got nervous.

Grantaire looked up to see Enjolras meet his eyes whilst his thumb still drew circles on his skin. There was something unspoken between them, Grantaire could sense it but it needed words and probably the ones neither of them could say. It felt right to sit in silence, he thought, enjoying the moment Enjolras had chosen him, Grantaire, the problem child over all their other friends.

Enjolras opened his mouth again and it seemed closer to him, he seemed closer as he leaned into Grantaire, into the hands between them; nothing but a whispered, ‘Grantaire –‘

‘What are you two doing here?’ A hand slapped down on Grantaire’s shoulder, making him jump and let go of Enjolras’ hand, ‘romantic rendezvous with sharks in the background.’

‘Montparnasse,’ Enjolras rose from the bench, much more gracefully than Grantaire, his face back to stern and unapproachable, ‘it is not advisable to scare random people in a dark room.’

‘Oh sweet Enjolras,’ Montparnasse grinned at them, ‘I just felt weird knowing children could run into that.’

He emphasised his last word with a wave of his hand. Grantaire peered past him and saw Jehan step out of the shadows. Their hair was loose and tangled, they still adjusted their t-shirt and there were lipstick smudges around their mouth that matched both their and Montparnasse’s in colour.

‘Hello there, Jehan,’ he greeted them softly, ‘your boyfriend is funny.’

‘Yes, I know, he is, isn’t he?’ They beamed at Grantaire who managed a weak smile in return, ‘What were you up to?’

‘Well, darling, your good friends were just about to come together to enjoy the view and, in Enjolras’ case, a serious session of sno –‘

‘Thank you, Montparnasse,’ Enjolras cut in, his face bright red, ‘we’re hiding from the kids without them knowing which is even more thrilling than if they knew.’

‘Sounds and looks like it, you are out of breath,’ Jehan said with a sweet smile, ‘well, we don’t want to keep you and get you caught, do we? Parnasse, I want to go to the gift shop.’

Montparnasse left with Jehan, sliding along the walls as smooth and easy as the sharks in their tank. When he turned around to grin at them, Grantaire swore he had just as many teeth, too.

Grantaire still mourned the loss of Enjolras’ hand in his when they decided to return to the seal sanctuary. They were the first ones to arrive back there, found good seats in the centre back and sat to watch the seals roll around in the water, all of them seemed more lively and exited.

‘They must sense there’s going to be food,’ Enjolras leaned in a little, ‘how long do you give the others?’

‘Not too long now,’ Grantaire grinned, ‘I would say Gus and Louis must have asked someone for the time already. I’m sure they’ll come and pester us in no time at all, and it will be like they were never really gone.’

‘We can’t escape them, can we?’ Enjolras’ voice barely concealed a smile.

‘Never. We signed up for this, you volunteered to share the room with them. Do you regret it yet?’

‘A little,’ Enjolras fumbled with his hands, ‘I don’t get to lie in, I suppose.’

‘You wouldn’t, even if you got the chance,’ Grantaire smirked, imagining Enjolras getting out of bed after everybody else for once, hair tousled and in disarray, the imprint of a pillow on his cheek.

He needed to stop imagining it a second later because he felt his face heat up and the room was not dark enough to mask his blushing. Enjolras ducked slightly behind the row of seats in front of them, peering up at him.

‘What are you doing?’ Grantaire grinned at him and lifted an eyebrow, ‘you look silly.’

‘I’m sacrificing you,’ Enjolras hissed, ‘have fun with the kids.’

A moment later, Gus and Louis made a bolt for him. Gavroche followed them in a slower pace, pretending to look around before slumping into the chair next to him. Grantaire sighed dramatically before turning to face him in all seriousness.

‘How did you find the aquarium?’

‘Cool,’ Grantaire got his phone out and began to scroll through something, ‘lots of fish.’

Their friends arrived in dribs and drabs, sitting down around them. Courfeyrac carried a stuffed toy under his arm and Combeferre carried a small plastic bag with more souvenirs that Enjolras stared down with fire in his eyes.

Grantaire nudged him in the side, ‘Don’t start. The feeding is about to begin.’

‘But it’s one of those things, things like this that make me just so angry! A small plastic bag that will remain somewhere for hundreds of years, in the ground, in the oceans or –‘

‘Enjolras,’ Grantaire gathered all his courage and placed his hand on his friend’s knee, ‘we know about it. We know you are passionate about the issue. We know that plastic pollution is a huge problem. But the bag Ferre has there is from the bakery down the road from where they live. He brought it here with us today. No worries, it’s recycling.’

Enjolras looked at him but the daggers had molten away. Instead, something soft appeared in his expression and he nodded slowly. He had deflated a little, his righteous anger taken out of his sails.

Grantaire turned back to the front where a member of staff gave a little opening speech about the sanctuary, some financial issues and the possibilities visitors had to support the cause of the organisation. He felt Louis wriggle in his lap and lean towards Combeferre on his other side, whispering something in his ear.

The seals swam closer to a door in the back of their enclosure, waving their flippers at another employee who entered the pen with a big bucket. The children were similarly excited, Azelma squealed and Gus clapped enthusiastically whilst Louis dug his heels in Grantaire’s thighs. A first fish found its way into seal jaws, the seal swam a loop and made room for the next one. There was a group of seals close to the pen where the bucket stood, they waited patiently until it was their turn to get fed.

They watched as one seal after the other queued up for a fish and a trick as thank you. Grantaire tore his eyes away from the sight to watch his friends for a moment. Feuilly sat in Bahorel’s lap, arms wrapped around his neck and head tucked under his head. Grantaire envied their relationship, platonic as it was. They had found a space, a niche that worked for them exclusively, where they could be themselves, no questions asked. It made him want something, anything resembling their relationship. It seemed the obvious alternative to Jehan’s Stockholm syndrome, as Courfeyrac had called it once, and Marius and Cosette’s toothrottingly sweet sympathy. He had joked that he would be satisfied with something platonic over a romantic short term solution but the longer he remained single, the more he wished a short term solution would come along to distract him from his long term crush on Enjolras.

Courfeyrac handed the stuffed toy to Louis, revealing a plush seal. The boy cuddled it close and spoke to it in soft tones whilst watching closely as another seal got a fish and gave the keeper a flipper high five. Gus and Azelma lost it at the sight, squealing and screaming in each other’s face.

‘I have an idea,’ Enjolras leaned into his space.

Grantaire shuddered. His breath had hit his neck, warm and soft, and had his hair stand on end in the best way possible. He tried to calm his breathing and show nothing of his reaction whilst also leaning in to hear what else Enjolras had to see.

‘We should adopt a seal. As _Les Amis_, it would be great and we definitely have the budget,’ Enjolras’ eyes sparkled in the dim room, ‘wouldn’t you agree? It’s such a good cause. And it’s seals.’

‘Don’t tell me you are another seal crazy person,’ Grantaire felt the smile split his face, Enjolras looked giddy as a drunken man, ‘you should be sitting with the kids.’

Enjolras grinned and poked him in the ribs, ‘Just tell me if you think it’s a rubbish idea.’

‘It’s a very good idea,’ Grantaire felt something ghost over his forearm, maybe cloth but neither of them wore sleeves, ‘you should do it. It’s for the best possible cause.’

‘You think?’ Enjolras took his hand again.

Grantaire nodded, not able to say anything whilst Enjolras held his hand, gently squeezing his fingers and looking at him like he was anything but a washed-up artist who drove around the country on a motorbike to get inspired, and hung out with children unironically. He held his breath for a moment until he could be sure he would not burst out giggling hysterically.

They remained sat like that for the rest of the feeding. When the lights went back on and the kids ran off to see the seals close up again, Jehan and Combeferre looked over at them with a fond smile. Grantaire hoped they would not comment on the way Enjolras pulled him along when he got up, towards the information desk advertising the seal sponsorship. Grantaire stood next to him whilst he spoke to Combeferre as treasurer, got the okay and filled in the paper work.

‘You get to name the seal,’ the employee informed them, ‘have you got an idea what you would like to call her?’

‘Oh, it’s a girl?’ Enjolras beamed at Grantaire, ‘what do you think?’

‘Should we ask the kids?’

‘Wonderful idea,’ Enjolras turned around and waved for Gavroche to round them up.

‘To be honest,’ Grantaire chuckled and turned into him for a moment, ‘they are just gonna call her Sally.’

The children gathered around them and Enjolras pointed at the paperwork in front of them, ‘We have decided to sponsor a seal. What should we call her?’

Louis, Gus and Azelma exchanged a look and turned to Gavroche who nodded and grinned, ‘Sally!’

Grantaire chuckled and nudged Enjolras in the shoulder, ‘I knew it, told you so.’

Enjolras looked at him with something so soft in his eyes that Grantaire felt his knees weaken. Louis held out the stuffed toy in front of him and broke them apart as he ran off with the aquarium employee who went to show them the seal they had just named.

‘Look at that,’ Enjolras breathed, ‘they are so happy.’

‘They just named a seal ‘Sally,’ Enjolras, of course they are happy,’ Grantaire stayed next to him, watching as Louis showed the toy seal to Sally the seal.

‘Yes, they are. Are you?’

It was a genuine question, Grantaire could tell as much. He nodded, quickly hiding the blush threatening to destroy his composed expression. Enjolras cared about his friends, deep and genuinely. It set him apart from so many people Grantaire had come to know and despise over the long run, putting up facades rather than caring about the people they spent time with.

Enjolras put an arm around his shoulder and squeezed it for a moment, allowing both of them to catch themselves out of the moment. Grantaire felt like he certainly needed all the time he could get after Enjolras moved on, being called away by Feuilly and Bahorel.

They went for a snack in the aquarium café which was all they had available to get Gavroche to settle down and prevent Gus getting cranky. Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Grantaire put on their leathers again, Éponine got the children to climb into the van and Montparnasse convinced Jehan to put on their own seatbelt, rather than sitting in his lap on the way back to the cottage.

By the time Grantaire kicked his bike to life, they sat in their own spot, pouting but having agreed to common sense. He waved at them and followed Combeferre onto the open road.

***

Another sunny day began with Grantaire’s early morning run along the beach and swim in the bay. By the time he waded out of the water to put his t-shirt back on and climb the stairs back to the village, the sun shone rather strong down on the beach. His hair still dripped water and the t-shirt oaked through at the back but he felt rather refreshed and awake.

He went to the bakery and got fresh rolls. The paper bag in his hand was warm and smelled like happiness in his mind as he carried it down the street and towards the cottage. The garage was open and he could see the bike gleaming in the early morning light. He took a detour and patted it for a moment.

‘I should take you out for a proper coastal ride sometime,’ he said quietly, ‘more than just being in the garage for days.’

He went around the house and opened the gate. The children were playing in the garden, still in their pyjamas. Gavroche hung from a low branch of a cherry tree and threw fruit down for his siblings to pick up, Azelma sat leaning against the tree trunk reading but she still grabbed a few cherries every now and then and spat the stones at Louis and Gus who squealed and tried to dodge them. Grantaire looked up to the house where the curtains were still closed. With the noise the kids made, it was a matter of minutes until someone would wake up.

‘Enjolras is inside, drinking coffee,’ Gavroche let him know, ‘I think he drinks too much.’

‘You have a point,’ Grantaire sighed, ‘Can I leave you here without checking on you every two seconds? Or do you need me to stick around?’

‘We aren’t babies anymore,’ Louis roistered, ‘go away.’

‘Certainly one way to put it,’ Grantaire shrugged, ‘call if you need anything.’

He stepped through the sliding door and set his things down on the sofa. The room was filled with the warmth and smell of coffee having been prepared. Grantaire peeked into the kitchen to see Enjolras lean against the counter, one cup in his hand and a second cup next to him.

‘There you are,’ he grinned and held it out to him, ‘thought you’d might like a little wake up call.’

‘Thank you,’ Grantaire clinked their mugs together, ‘it’s very nice.’

‘Didn’t know whether you like sugar or milk,’ Enjolras pointed at the carton of milk next to the stove, ‘uhm, would you like –‘

Grantaire grinned at him and grabbed the carton, ‘Most of the time, I don’t even drink coffee but today it seems like a good thing.’

‘Why?’

He shrugged, ‘Don’t know, really. Sorry, I’m just saying stupid things. I’m not even making sense.’

‘It’s okay,’ Enjolras grinned at him, ‘it’s…uhm, it’s adorable. Your rambling, I mean. I think.’

‘Now who’s rambling,’ Grantaire shot him a triumphant grin, ‘definitely you, wouldn’t you agree?’

Enjolras shoved him lightly, returning the grin. Grantaire helped him set the patio table for breakfast and got the rolls from the sofa.

‘Are those fresh ones?’ Enjolras appeared next to him, hanging over his shoulder, ‘Grantaire, you are amazing.’

‘You should tell me that more often and I might bring home more rolls,’ Grantaire teased, ‘but with the way you’re treating me…’

Enjolras burst out into a small, hearty laugh. It took Grantaire a moment to realise that his hand was on his shoulder, fingers digging into his muscles.

‘When is breakfast ready?’ Azelma slipped into the room, her hair wild and sleeves pushed up, ‘Gus is being annoying.’

‘It’s basically ready,’ Enjolras turned around, ‘do you want to get Éponine and the others?’

‘Sure,’ she ran off to the stairs, banging on the door to Éponine’s room on the way.

‘How long do you give her?’

‘Three minutes, if she starts with Jehan and Montparnasse, ten in any other case,’ Grantaire sighed, ‘she would get backup, even if Montparnasse stays in bed for a bit longer.’

They heard the steps upstairs, the rushed clatter of two people going from one room to the next. Enjolras exhaled slowly, a smile playing in the corner of his mouth.

‘Three,’ he grinned, ‘trust Jehan to stir up the place.’

They came together for a few minutes in the kitchen, drinking a first cup of coffee around the island. Grantaire watched how the different morning people progressed towards the table. Marius walked past all of them, going straight for the coffee, Cosette hugged everybody once she had had the first sip and Feuilly, being carried around on Bahorel’s back filled two cups with hot water before dunking tea bags into them. Combeferre had hair sticking in all directions and Courfeyrac’s hand in his, both looking rather worse for wear.

‘We said something about that,’ Grantaire poked him in the side, ‘a very clear understanding –‘

‘Incoming,’ Courfeyrac grinned, ‘kids approaching.’

Gavroche launched himself at him, Grantaire caught him and twirled him for a moment before setting him down and directing him towards the table, ‘Go eat something, this day is another cool one at the beach and I don’t want you to get cranky later on.’

Gavroche stuck his tongue out but got distracted by the breakfast table being extended by instant cocoa and strawberry shakes. Enjolras cleared his throat next to him.

‘You are wearing the t-shirt again.’

‘Yes, and?’

‘Why?’

Grantaire stared at him, searching for an answer, ‘I burn easily.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ there was no malice behind his words, Grantaire looked up to see worry in Enjolras’ eyes, ‘I’m just not sure what you feel so uncomfortable about but you’ll get the worst t-shirt tan, if you don’t take it off. You don’t burn, remember the holiday two years ago? You ran around without t-shirt when even Ferre put something on to protect his skin.’

‘You want to know why I put on the t-shirt in front of people? It’s ridiculous, really. But I look awful and there is no way I’m running around like a normal person when I’m anything but.’

‘Grantaire –‘

‘No, honestly. I stopped drinking, I got to start remembering my weekends and still, it doesn’t work out the way I imagined getting back on track would be like,’ he rubbed over his eyes and crossed his arms, ‘I feel worse in my body than ever before but now I can’t even think about other people seeing me in –‘

‘I’m going to stop you there, Grantaire,’ Enjolras put a hand on his arm, one thumb rubbing circles into his skin, ‘I don’t believe it but it is okay if you don’t want to take off your shirt in front of us. It is alright if you ever decide you’re ready but no one will pressure you when it comes to that.’

Grantaire shook his head, ‘That’s the thing, Enjolras, I really want to. I want to show you how far I got, I want you to see that I got my shit together but the minute we are at the beach and I think about it, everything seems to go south.’

Enjolras looked at him, nodding along carefully. He seemed to contemplate something and settled for an encouraging smile, ‘In your own time.’

Grantaire felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders, he nodded and squeezed Enjolras’ hand on his arm, ‘Okay then. Breakfast, then beach and I’ll try and relax about the whole issue.’

He managed to get through breakfast without further slips in mood. By the time they went to the beach, even Montparnasse was awake enough to pass as a human being. Once again, everybody carried something down the stairs and to their secluded spot behind the cliff where the tides had washed the sand into a near flat, softly rising towards the rocks where their towels and picnic blankets could be spread without problems. The children ran off, Gus and Louis to build a dam system with Joly and Bossuet, Gavroche and Azelma to swim out into the bay with Bahorel and Feuilly. Jehan and Montparnasse read in the shade, Éponine, Cosette and Marius played Frisbee and Courfeyrac and Combeferre were in their own world, probably looking for shells.

It left Enjolras and Grantaire looking after their bags and blankets. Enjolras opened a book he had brought in his bag but he did not turn pages for minutes on end. Grantaire tried to concentrate on his sketchbook but could not help noticing the lack of paper rustling.

‘Are you okay there?’ he asked, turning around until he could see Enjolras out of the corner of his eye, ‘Seems like you’re getting distracted a little.’

‘What? No, I was just thinking about something,’ Enjolras turned a page, looked back down and scrunched up his nose, ‘that doesn’t make any sense.’

‘Maybe because you weren’t reading properly,’ Grantaire grinned and threw a small shell at him, ‘come on, talk to me. What are you thinking about?’

‘Just about the t-shirt thing again,’ Enjolras closed the book, ‘I mean, I said no one would pressure you but I still can’t stop thinking. We all know you stopped drinking, we helped you get through the harder times and a few of us were involved in flagging up alternatives to you. I can’t fathom how all this would lead to something you are embarrassed about.’

‘Of course not,’ Grantaire sighed, ‘you’re not going to stop until I have taken off my shirt, are you?’

He played with the hem of his t-shirt. Enjolras seemed to try and look anywhere but at him, failing hopelessly. Grantaire noticed the way he looked back over his shoulder, checking on their friends who were barely visible along the beach. He felt brave with only Enjolras around who seemed to look out for him, carefully hiding any worry or second-guessing. It helped that Enjolras took his hand for a moment without looking at him, as if it had been an unconscious decision.

Grantaire exhaled, feeling the air in his lungs roll and scending, seemingly working through all obstacles his mind could conjure up in defence and panic. Enjolras’ hand on his was warm and reassuring. He took a towel, twisted it in his hand for a moment and threw it at Enjolras.

‘Hold it up, will you?’

Enjolras reacted, spreading the towel out to cover Grantaire as he sat up, swallowed around the lump in his throat and pulled his shirt up. He could hear his reaction, a sharp intake of breath and a gasp that made him swallow again, this time with tears pricking in his eyes. He could not see Enjolras’ face or look through the t-shirt cloth in front of his face but hearing from him was equally painful as seeing the disgust and consternation.

‘Grantaire?’

He felt his skin crawl, goose-bumps pushing against the mild breeze along the shore. Something in Enjolras’ voice was not quite right to him, only slightly off but enough to make him wish for a hole in the ground to open up.

‘Grantaire, you are shaking,’ there was cloth around his shoulders and a squeeze he could feel through it, ‘Grantaire, come on, look at me!’

The t-shirt was removed from his head, carefully taken off and placed by the side. Grantaire felt the hands on his shoulders wander. He opened his eyes, finding Enjolras next to him and the towel around his shoulders. Something in his friend’s eyes had changed.

‘Grantaire, please talk to me, are you alright?’

He nodded, not sure he could trust his voice to actually impart what his mind was reeling with. Enjolras cleared his throat, tugged the towel close again and patted his back carefully.

‘When you said – I didn’t know what to expect. But you have to tell me, what do you think you see when you look in the mirror? Which part of your body is it that makes you feel so bad you take to hiding it?’

There was no disbelief or mocking in his tone, only genuine care and the wish to comfort him. Grantaire knew him well enough to realise that Enjolras needed to know before he could even begin to think how to help him. It was endearing on the best of days and he felt the warmth radiating from him as if put under a magnifying glass. Grantaire grabbed the towel, bunched it up and wiped his eyes on the soft cloth.

‘I look at myself and it looks wrong, like something that should not exist, having slipped through the veil. I look ridiculous and all the hard work has done nothing to improve it. I’d rather sit in a t-shirt than have people stare and whisper behind my back, talking about how someone like me shouldn’t – shouldn’t –‘

A sob cut him off mid-sentence, Enjolras wrapped his arms around him and squeezed again. For a moment, he all but rocked him in his arms and nuzzled his hair.

‘Oh Grantaire, you sweet, sweet boy,’ he murmured in his ear, ‘Grantaire, my dearest, dearest friend. There is nothing wrong with your body. You look better than ever, you worked for this and you should get to enjoy it. I think you look amazing! Going from chubby with a few drinks to going to the gym three times a week and actually training and now you look…uhm…’

Enjolras stopped talking and shifted in his seat, fingers woven in Grantaire’s hair. He cleared his throat and swallowed audibly.

‘Grantaire, I know this is down to you seeing yourself as you are. I also know that weight changes, eating disorders and self-confidence are tricky, fragile things that mess up your image of yourself. I hope you can get to the point where you see yourself like I do. An amazing friend who would do everything for his family, a stubborn, tough cookie who got himself into shape and now looks amazing. Honest, Grantaire, you look beautiful. I would love to show you just how hot you look, believe me, please. Now that I know what you’re hiding, I really wish you’d wear and show it with pride!’

‘Careful, Enjolras,’ Grantaire hiccupped, ‘you’re beginning to sound a little horny there.’

‘Let me sound horny, you look divine,’ Enjolras’ voice rose a little, echoing from the cliff behind them, ‘you could pass as a model now.’

Grantaire felt a laugh bubble up in his throat that sounded wetter than he had imagined, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, you and I both know that.’

He leaned back into Enjolras’ embrace, only the towel between them, fitting his head in the crook of his neck, ‘Enjolras, you have the gift to inspire people, show them something about themselves they did not know. But with me, you are wasting your time. I will still look at myself and see what I always have been. No polished, lean or fit exterior will ever change that. Can’t expel the goblin inside.’

‘Must be the nicest, most handsome goblin I know,’ Enjolras pressed a kiss into his hair, ‘uh, sorry. I thought you might need some reassurance.’

Grantaire pulled the towel tighter around himself. He tried to ignore the close proximity to Enjolras, focussing on his words instead.

‘Nothing I say will reassure you that your body changed. Not as long as your own brain projects something that is no longer there. I can offer you to remind you every now and then, take your hand and tell you just how beautiful you look.’

Finally, Grantaire managed to turn his head and looked at Enjolras. His friend smiled back at him but his eyes darted around, avoiding him.

‘Grantaire –‘

‘Enjolras –‘

They stopped talking, eyes finally meeting. Grantaire swallowed, wanting to feel Enjolras‘ arms around him again but unable to voice it.

‘I think we’re going to have a barbeque tonight,’ Enjolras blinked at him, ‘the kids will probably burn all marshmallows.’

‘Probably,’ Grantaire felt Enjolras’ breath on his neck, ‘it will still be warm. Shouldn’t you go cool off before?’

‘So should you,’ Enjolras suggestion made its way into Grantaire’s ear, ‘not here, a few metres further away where no one will be able to see us. We’ll take your t-shirt and your towel.’

Grantaire drew in a breath, swallowed down the rising panic and nodded, ‘We can try that.’

They gathered a few things and walked along the beach until they could no longer see the rest of their group. Enjolras took his hand again, tugging him along. Grantaire found himself ready to panic but trusted Enjolras too much to show it. They reached a small bay behind the cliff’s sharp turn where Enjolras set down his towel and turned around to him.

‘Are you still okay?’

Grantaire nodded and dropped his towel, ‘Let’s get you into the water.’

He was surprised by how collected he still was when they were in the sea. Enjolras swam next to him, looking over to him every now and then. Grantaire relished in the way the sea hugged his body and washed away the dust on his skin, cooled his face and made his hair stick to his neck.

‘Grantaire,’ Enjolras grinned at him, ‘you are bloody fast.’

‘A year of training with Feuilly,’ Grantaire turned around to get in some backstrokes, ‘that’ll do it.’

They swam out further. At some point, Enjolras stopped, began to tread water and looked at Grantaire with an inquisitive look.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘Not too bad,’ Grantaire splashed some water around, ‘I think the water makes me feel better. It’s silly, I know.’

‘Not silly,’ Enjolras shook his head, sending water drops flying everywhere, ‘it’s part of the charm.’

They turned around and swam back to shore where Enjolras got Grantaire’s towel and handed it to him, ‘Look at what you just did. I’m incredibly proud of you, Grantaire! You truly have come far.’

Grantaire wiped at his face and grinned in return. Enjolras’ enthusiasm for just about anything was hard not to be swept up in. He allowed him to pat down his back to catch most of the drops clinging to his skin.

‘So, barbeque tonight?’

‘Barbeque tonight,’ Enjolras flashed him a smile, ‘Jehan wants pancakes.’

‘Over the fire?’

‘Don’t ask. Apparently, there is a way.’

They heard the shouts before they rounded the corner. Gavroche and Louis seemed to play Tag but no one else appeared to have been told, they bumped into Bahorel and Courfeyrac, trying to tag them in a moment of utter confusion. Grantaire tugged the towel tighter around his shoulders and re-joined the group, opening the book Enjolras had abandoned earlier. He pushed his sunglasses back down onto his nose and listened in on the conversations around him. The children complained about a lack of sweets on the beach and retired into the shadow of the cliff.

‘Why’s your hair wet this time?’ Louis asked and snuggled up to Grantaire, ‘did you swim this time?’

He ran his fingers through the boy’s hair, ‘Maybe. Maybe I just held my head under the waterfall. Did you have fun?’

‘We built a sandcastle. Gavroche said he’d kick it in but he didn’t,’ Louis shrugged, ‘do we have anything to eat?’

‘Some fruit, if you’d like. Grapes?’ Grantaire held the container out for the boy to take, ‘did you hear about what we’re doing tonight?’

‘Barbeque,’ Louis nodded, ‘and Jehan said there’s pancakes.’

‘Well, Jehan has to take care of that,’ Grantaire grinned and ruffled his hair, ‘they have an idea, apparently.’

Enjolras watched them from his towel a couple of metres into the sun where he lay ready to be baked in the warmth. His hair stuck to his shoulders in wet, dark curls but the top of his head was light and golden. He had put on sunglasses as well and seemed comfortably propped up on his elbows.

Gus and Éponine ran off, towards the sea, a few buckets in hands. They filled them with water and Grantaire moved in front of Louis, just as a precaution. He did not feel like crying tantrums on the beach because Gus could not aim. Éponine snuck up on Bossuet and Bahorel and dumped her buckets over them. They jumped up, screaming and complaining. The commotion allowed for Gus to approach them without anybody realising. He ducked behind a rock and waited until things had settled down a little, Bossuet had found a towel without too much sand on it and Bahorel had returned to the still-reading Feuilly who had seemed entirely unperturbed by everything going on around him.

Gus chose to empty his bucket over Montparnasse.

The effect was fatal. Montparnasse howled, pushed himself up on his feet and started after the boy. Gus dropped the empty bucket and tried to zig-zag away from a dripping Montparnasse who seemed to have forgotten about his usual poise. His hat went flying and he spat profanities that had Grantaire contemplate whether he should cover Louis’ ears.

No one came to help either of them. Éponine sat back down with Cosette and rested her head against Marius’ knees. Bahorel patted his hair dry with the bottom of Feuilly’s t-shirt in an attempt to get his attention. And then there was Enjolras who had readjusted his towel, dragged it into the shade and ended up closer to Grantaire.

He only realised that he had moved when soft hair tickled his legs and Enjolras copied Éponine. Resting against his knees, Enjolras took the book out of Grantaire’s hands and thumbed through the pages.

Grantaire found himself to be speechless, his throat dried up and he could not find the words that would express how he felt about the unexpected change of position. Enjolras seemed to do just fine without his attempts to put a feeling into words.

Within minutes of Montparnasse and Gus returning, the former fuming, the latter grinning, Enjolras got so comfortable he fell asleep against Grantaire’s legs. He could not bring himself to move him even in the slightest and accepted his fate. He, too, closed his eyes to nap.

Jehan woke him up gently, one hand on his shoulder and the other resting on Enjolras, ‘The others have left already, no one wanted to wake you up. We’re having our barbeque now.’

‘Thank you, Jehan,’ Grantaire blinked at them, ‘come on, sleeping beauty. Let’s get you fed and watered then.’

‘I am not a horse, Grantaire,’ Enjolras tried to get some sand out of his hair, ‘where is my book?’

‘Got it,’ Grantaire pointed at their bag, ‘could you shake out the towels?’

Jehan shook their head as they watched them pack up, ‘Grantaire, a word.’

‘Sure, what’s the matter?’

They started towards the stairs, ‘Are you blind or oblivious?’

‘Both?’ Grantaire laughed, ‘are you okay, Jehan?’

‘Do something, please! It’s driving all of us crazy, your sweet adorableness and everything.’

‘What do you mean, Jehan?’

‘You and Enjolras! It’s worse than Feuilly and Bahorel but at least they put a label on it!’

Grantaire laughed, ‘Oh come on, Enjolras and I are just friends. He would never go for someone like me. I’m too much work, he deserves something easy, healthy.’

‘What do you mean, you worked all your issues out. You stopped drinking and got back on track,’ they looked back over their shoulder, ‘Enjolras looks at you like you hung the stars. Or like he wants to ride your motorbike, it’s undistinguishable, most of the time.’

Grantaire thanked a deity that he did not face Enjolras directly. His face felt very warm and he was sure if he looked at Enjolras again, it would happen again.

He was not in the least surprised when they arrived at the top of the cliff to find the fire going and Bahorel tending to it. Joly and Cosette were in the kitchen, preparing salads and nibbles, the kids ran around and tried to get their hands on the crisps Éponine had filled into small bowls. Montparnasse stood close to the patio table, changed into dry clothes and without his hat which sat on the lowest branch of the cherry tree.

‘There you are, did Jehan get you to wake up? Courfeyrac started whimpering about how adorable you looked, otherwise, he would have done the deed,’ Combeferre grinned at them, ‘and you didn’t leave Enjolras behind. Great job, Jehan.’

Grantaire took it upon himself to take everything they had carried to the beach back inside and got the book out of the bag in case Enjolras wanted to read some more. He peeked into the kitchen but Cosette shooed him away with a smile.

As it turned out, Jehan really had small pans on sticks that could be held over the fire to bake something. They ignored Bossuet’s comment about raclette and threatened to pour pancake batter over his head. He left to find Joly in the kitchen and came back with a couple of salads in his arms.

Grantaire got the children to calm down a little and lay the table for everybody. Once the plates were outside without being smashed, Azelma was the only one to finish the job but she accepted it once Bahorel promised her the first thing off the barbeque. Grantaire helped her out whilst yelling after Gavroche who had told Gus and Louis it would be much better to swing off the trees. His brothers had followed, of course.

‘Don’t strain your voice too much,’ Enjolras took a stack of glasses off him, ‘they might have worse ideas a little later and we need you then. No one shouts as them quite as efficiently as you.’

Grantaire could only nod.

Once the sausages, steaks, foil potatoes, garlic bread and cheese packets were on the grill, everybody sat down outside, Bahorel closest to the fire. Azelma got the promised first claim and picked a juicy, crispy piece of chicken Gavroche had been vocal about. Éponine’s warning glance was the only thing narrowly avoiding a confrontation. As soon as the others had something on their plates as well, however, it seemed less of a problem for Gavroche. Gus drowned his meat in sauces and Louis roped Enjolras into cutting up his food, insisting it was too tough to cut by himself. Enjolras agreed once he had tried to cut it with the children’s cutlery Louis got to use.

They all but diminished everything they had prepared, meat, salad and pancakes. Jehan happily made pancakes for everybody, holding out the small pans over the fire. Bahorel reclined in his chair, took Feuilly’s hand and entangled their fingers. Combeferre and Courfeyrac snuggle on the other end of the table, closest to the door where they had run the bar for the evening. Cosette, Marius and Éponine seemed somewhat undecided about the further development of the evening until Cosette tucked her head in the crook of Éponine’s neck and pulled Marius’ hand into her lap. Feuilly chuckled when he realised. Jehan and Montparnasse moved their chairs a little to the back, out of the direct light. There, in the shadows, they seemed to melt into one figure.

‘Grantaire, can you get my guitar?’ Feuilly asked, ‘I would ask Bossuet but I don’t trust him with it.’

‘Sure,’ Grantaire got up, ‘anything else I can get anyone?’

‘The blankets off the sofa,’ Enjolras grinned, ‘and we could use more nibbles.’

Grantaire trotted off, knowing that it was only due to Enjolras’ smile that he would end up bringing all these things. The blankets could wait, he needed to get Feuilly’s trusted guitar from the room upstairs. He found it leaning on the bed, lifted it carefully and tried to get it downstairs without knocking anything over or damaging the guitar. Feuilly had bought the instruments off his first wages and was incredibly proud of it, reason enough for Grantaire to try and not anger him by breaking it. He took it outside first, handed it over and headed back to get the blankets and last remaining crisps bags. They would have to go grocery shopping again.

Feuilly had begun the first song when he sat back down. It sounded like Irish folk and got a few of them to sing along or stomp their feet. Grantaire handed the blankets out, making sure Enjolras got the biggest, fluffiest one to wrap around his body before throwing one at Jehan and giving another one to Gavroche who draped it over himself and his siblings. Bahorel dragged a blanket over his and Feuilly’s legs without interrupting the guitar play.

‘Grantaire, sit down,’ Enjolras patted something, either the chair or his legs and grabbed his hand, ‘you are hovering.’

With that, he pulled him in, folded the blanket back and did not let go of him until he sat in his lap, tugged against his chest. Enjolras spread the blanket over both of them, tugging it up until Grantaire was covered to his shoulders.

‘Are you warm?’ Enjolras mumbled into his neck, ‘we could move towards the fire.’

‘Too much of a hassle,’ he nestled his head into Enjolras’ hair and tucked his hands away to avoid accidental touches that would make him pop a blood vessel, ‘thank you for sharing the blanket with me.’

‘It’s rather cool once the sun’s gone,’ Enjolras said through his hair, Grantaire felt his breath on his skin, ‘the blankets are just cosy enough to forget it.’

Cosette got up and went inside a few minutes later, returning with a giant bag of marshmallows and some skewers. The people closest to the fireplace began to roast them and handed the finished ones down to everybody else. Enjolras held a skewer with a number of marshmallows and he and Grantaire plucked them off. Grantaire had one in in his mouth and squished it between his tongue and palate when Enjolras wiped at his mouth.

‘You had some fluff there,‘ he smiled at him and proceeded to push a strand of hair behind his ears, ‘Want some more marshmallows?’

Grantaire nodded and slipped deeper into the blanket cave. Enjolras was warm enough that he did not need a jumper. But only for as long as he stayed curled up against him.

‘Grantaire will be the only one without mosquito bites after tonight,’ Jehan grinned, ‘no insect could get to him right now, he’s in his own cocoon.’

‘You’re just jealous that your boyfriend doesn’t cuddle you,’ Grantaire rubbed at his nose a little.

He was comfortable and warm enough to care only a little about what he said. Judging by the way Enjolras squeezed his shoulder, he did not mind or had not noticed. Someone handed them more marshmallows and Grantaire peeled one off the skewer Enjolras held out for him. He felt the warm sugar fill his mouth and hummed out his approval and content.

Combeferre put his bike jacket around Courfeyrac and nudged Grantaire with one foot, ‘You sound like a cat. Honestly, where is that sound coming from?’

‘I am a mystery,’ he grinned, ‘no one needs to know.’

‘Are there more secrets about you we should know about, catboy?’ Courfeyrac pulled the leather jacket tighter around his shoulders, ‘like that you drive a motorbike?’

‘You knew that, I told you,’ Grantaire sat up a little, trying to avoid hurting Enjolras by accident, ‘I am absolutely positive I told you during a meeting.’

Feuilly stopped playing, ‘No one ever listens to what you say during meetings. Usually, it’s nonsense, anyway.’

‘Thank you,’ Grantaire pretended to be hurt, ‘no one listens to me? Then why did we have a waffle stand for the last event because that was my idea.’

‘Okay,’ Feuilly flipped him off, ‘no one but Enjolras listens to you. No matter how much he pretends he doesn’t.’

‘What are you talking about, it’s important to listen to your friends who struggle a little with what might be an issue. It could be depression, anxiety, addiction –‘

‘Enjolras,’ Grantaire hid his face in his chest, ‘thank you for your determination to save the world but I really think Feuilly was teasing.’

‘You think?’ Fingers tangled in his hair, gently scratching his scalp.

The fire died down slowly, Louis demanded to be taken to bed, Gus and Azelma followed. Gavroche was the only one who tried to extend his time awake but was sent off as well. Courfeyrac and Combeferre followed him, making sure he actually went upstairs. One by one, their group shrunk in size until Bahorel poured the last water into the fireplace, got up and wished them a good night.

‘Ready for bed?’ Enjolras’ fingers stilled where they had been braiding his hair, ‘or are you asleep already?’

‘Not yet,’ Grantaire lifted his head from where it had been resting, ‘do you want to head inside?’

They packed up what still was outside and closed the patio door once they had everything inside. Grantaire started on the washing up whilst Enjolras went upstairs, probably for a shower. He got through most plates, glasses and bowls, decided to let the cutlery soak overnight since they had enough for breakfast and went back to the living room to set up his couch. Since the night was mild and warm he only took one blanket off the pile next to the sofa. He grabbed his charger from his bags, plugged his phone in and started the one game he had downloaded for long bus and car drives, late evenings and early mornings. It took a moment to load during which he took his trousers off and slipped onto the couch. He switched the lights off and nestled between cushions and blanket.

He plugged his earphones in and chose one of the calmer songs in his playlist to listen to whilst he connected colourful dots and made his brain wind down. The music and the hypnotising effects of the phone display were the reasons why he did not hear a light being switched on upstairs and the footsteps coming down the stairs.

Only when a shadow fell over his eyes and the sofa dipped under the weight of a person, he looked up and set his phone aside. Enjolras stared at him, eyes dark in the shadow and mouth tight.

‘What are you doing here?’ Grantaire pulled his legs in until his knees were tucked under his chin, ‘I thought you’d gone to bed or taken a shower.’

‘Louis snores and it’s really loud, given his size,’ Enjolras shook his head, ‘I didn’t feel like it tonight. And I did take a shower.’

His hair was wet, Grantaire watched as a single drop formed at the tip of a strand of hair, clinging until it fell, bursting in the lap of Enjolras’ boxer shorts. It was all he wore, he realised and blood shot into his cheeks. He felt more naked than he had with only his swimming trunks on, sitting opposite from Enjolras who seemed as confident in boxers as he had been earlier. Grantaire swallowed and licked his lips in a futile attempt to stabilise his voice.

‘What are your plans then?’

Enjolras looked at him, nothing in his eyes betraying his thoughts. He moved around on the sofa until he sat cross-legged and folded his hands in his lap.

‘I know you’ve been sleeping down here and I should have said something before. When we looked around the house and everybody claimed their rooms, I should have realised but I didn’t. You were left to make up something for yourself and as host I should have known! I knew we were one bed short but you didn’t say anything so I completely forgot!’

‘Enjolras – it’s okay. I figured I did not need to spend my nights with the kids and Éponine deserved the peace and quiet of her single room. Sleeping here meant I could sneak out in the morning for my swim. I like it, actually so you really don’t need to worry about being a bad host. You got us the opportunity to stay here in the first place.’

Grantaire pulled the blanket a little closer around himself. He could not tell what went on in Enjolras’ mind. His face was almost blank but he could see thoughts racing in his eyes.

‘Grantaire –‘

‘And honestly,’ he squeezed his eyes shut, ‘it’s so much more important that you came downstairs now. It shows you care. You don’t have to talk about it, I don’t believe in words anymore, anyway.’

They sat in silence for a moment, Grantaire tried to put something in words he still was not sure he wanted to say out loud and failed, opening his mouth a few times, only to shut it again. He tried to catch his breath, cleared his throat and looked out of the window, rocking on his feet.

‘Okay, Grantaire, I have to tell you something and I don’t want you to freak out when I say it because it’ll make me chicken out and do something silly instead.’

Grantaire nodded and braced himself.

‘You are amazing. You have come so far during the last year and I think you are an inspiration. So many would have complained and been a pain whilst getting back on track, you just showed what a strong personality is hidden inside of you. It’s one of the things I love about you. You are strong and yet, you asked for help when you knew you needed it. It makes you special.’

Grantaire cleared his throat, ‘You sound like you’re about to propose to me.’

Enjolras stared at him, pupils blown wide in the darkness, mouth hanging open and hands resting on his thighs. The light falling into the living room from upstairs made shadows fall over his shoulders and into his face. It made him look like a being from the other side, one of the characters in Jehan’s stories that made Louis cry and Marius hold on to Cosette’s hand.

Grantaire was not sure whether Enjolras was doing something or waiting for him to say anything to break up the tense moment between them. He could not think of anything, and settled for silence.

It was Enjolras who moved first, in the end. He leaned in, took his hand and squeezed his fingers for a moment before pulling him in.

They crashed together, the surprise knocked the air out of Grantaire’s lungs. He stilled, terrified it may be a mistake, almost inclined to believe that Enjolras had fallen asleep on him. It only dawned on him that he was wrong when Enjolras pulled back and looked at him.

‘Sorry, did I misinterpret –‘

Grantaire blinked, shook his head and pulled him back in. The second time seemed more controlled, he managed to enjoy the kiss. Brief and controlled as it was, Grantaire felt like he had been waiting for it to happen. Enjolras entangled their fingers and slid around on the sofa until he sat next to him.

‘Told you I’d do something silly.’

They sat against the backrest, cuddled up together, Enjolras’ head resting on his shoulder. Grantaire wrapped his arms around him and they traded lazy kisses until his eyes slipped shut. He felt Enjolras pull the blanket over him and settled into the cushions underneath them, feeling his bones grow heavy with sleep.

***

His inner clock woke him up early enough to go on his swim. Grantaire sat up and was ready to swing his legs out of the bed when something around his waist held him back. He looked down and felt a fond smile break out on his face. He had thought to have dreamed the events of the previous night and made his peace with the way it was going to leave him feel.

But then he saw Enjolras lying face down on the sofa next to where he had been sleeping. His hair was spread out over the pillow and he pressed his nose into the gap between his and Grantaire’s pillow.

‘May I get up?’ Grantaire patted the arm Enjolras had thrown over his waist, ‘I would like to go for a swim.’

‘Nope,’ Enjolras shook his head, ‘stay and cuddle.’

Grantaire cleared his throat, ‘Just to be clear, you looked at the mess that I am and decided you liked me more than, say, Feuilly? Or Combeferre?’

‘And split up perfect couples?’

‘You know Bahorel and Feuilly aren’t technically together,’ Grantaire scooted back a little.

‘Who are they trying to kid, anyway, no one gets between them anymore. It doesn’t matter whether it’s official,’ Enjolras lifted his head out of the pillow, ‘and to answer your question properly – yes, I looked at you and decided you were the one for me. Now come back to bed and cuddle me.’

Grantaire bit back a comment on Enjolras looking like a poodle and the fact that he had a pillow imprint on his face and sat back, wrapping an arm around him, ‘So you like me honestly and you’re not just saying it because you were tired yesterday and fogged up brains do a lot of stupid things?’

Enjolras pushed himself up on his elbows and met Grantaire halfway in a kiss that tasted like a promise. He smiled at him after they pulled away, eyes shining with a mixture of early morning tiredness and fondness that made Grantaire want to hug him even tighter.

‘Grantaire, you continue to see yourself as somebody incapable of believing, of thinking, of willing, of living as someone who deserves good things happening to them,’ his voice was soft and quiet enough to make the hairs on Grantaire’s arms stand on end, ‘is there nothing at all that could convince you otherwise?’

Grantaire pressed a kiss to his temple, inhaled the warm smell of Enjolras’ hair against his face and felt grounded with the other in his arms, ‘I believe in you.’

Enjolras turned around and looked up at him, something bigger than words in his eyes. They shared a look, drowning in each other’s gaze, exchanging more than either could have said in a day.

‘Why is the light burning?’ Footsteps on the stairs made them look up just as Combeferre entered the living room.

‘Oh that would be because I came down here last night and didn’t switch it off before falling asleep,’ Enjolras shrugged, tucking Grantaire’s arms around him.

Combeferre only smirked, ‘So you spent the night here? On the couch, with Grantaire? Don’t you have beds?’

Grantaire saw the guilt ghost over Enjolras’ face and leaned forward, ‘What, upstairs where we have to hear you and Courf? No thank you. Were you about to make coffee?’

‘Don’t think you can just change the subject,’ Combeferre padded through the living room and into the kitchen, ‘I just hope you let Éponine catch some sleep.’

They got up and set the table for breakfast. There were a few things left on their holiday programme before they returned from the seashore and Grantaire felt ready to explore his possibilities with Enjolras by his side.

Whilst he distributed things across the table, Enjolras joined him, snaked his arms around his hips from the back and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Grantaire’s fingers let go of a set of cutlery he had held, he shuddered and felt a blush spread over his cheeks.

‘Come to think of it,’ Enjolras dotted more kisses to his back, ‘we should play mini golf as a team today. Us against the other couples.’

‘You can’t just say that,’ Grantaire dropped whatever he had in his other hand, he could not care less, ‘do you know what it does to me hearing you call us ‘couple’?’

‘A lot, apparently,’ Enjolras grinned, ‘I’m glad to be of service.’

The smile he gave Grantaire before returning inside made him hope for greater days to come. The decision to spend a summer holiday together seemed so much better to him and the possibility of maybe, one day, taking Enjolras on a ride with his bike put a spring in his step that was still there when everybody came downstairs for breakfast, unaware of the betterment of their group.

The look on Jehan’s face when Enjolras pulled him in for a hungry kiss later that day made him almost burst with pride and joy.


End file.
